Tourism for Tomorrow award winners revealed

The Global Travel and Tourism Summit in China has seen the announcement of the winners of the 2010 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, Breaking Travel News has reported.

12 finalists were whittled down to four winners, the first being the Botswana Tourism Board, whose ‘low-volume, high-yield’ approach to tourism resulted in it taking home the Destination Stewardship Award.

The Conservation Award was scooped by Emirates Hotels & Resorts, largely for its work in creating the United Arab Emirates’ first protected area – the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve.

Whale Watch Kaikoura took home the Community Benefit Award, having been credited with rebuilding the local economy of Kaikoura through community-based tourism.

The winner of the fourth and final award, for Global Tourism Business, was Accor, whose Earth Guest Program and overall company philosophy proved to be worth of recognition.

Chairman of the judges, Costas Christ, commented, “More and more companies and destinations, both large and small, are leading the way forward in demonstrating tourism can be an opportunity for protecting our planet and delivering tangible social and economic benefits at the local, national and international level.”

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