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    2013 Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards open

    March 28, 2013
    Tourism News
    2013 Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards open

    Kuala Lumpur : The Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards are open from today (27th March), any Asia based accommodation provider or tour operator committed to sustainability can enter, until 23rd May.

    Launched in 2006, the Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards are back for 2013 with an extended selection of categories to honour innovative businesses that have excelled through the practice of responsible tourism. Now in their seventh year, the Awards are open to accommodation and tour operator businesses across Asia in all shapes and sizes, budgets and locations.

    Grounded in the UN World Tourism Organization’s Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, the Awards have helped to shape international standards for environmentally and socially sound tourism. The Wild Asia Awards remain the only Asia wide awards committed to recognising sustainable tourism and to date have seen more than two hundred entries.

    For Finalists of the Responsible Tourism Awards, the accolade and recognition validates business’s efforts in responsible tourism. The Awards give these enterprises an international platform to showcase their achievements in environmental best practices and support for local communities, demonstrating to the world that their businesses care.

    The 2013 Awards’ Winners will be announced at Asia’s biggest business-to-business travel trade show ITB Asia in Singapore this October, as part of the international responsible tourism networking events.

    The 2013 Awards International panel of judges includes representatives from prestigious platforms such as the International Ecotourism Society, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Sustainable Travel International, and PATA.

    Furthermore, each one of our Finalists will undergo rigorous judging and have a full report published on the Wild Asia website highlighting their achievements and why they were selected. These insightful reports will act as practical tools for inspiring other tourism operators to adopt their methods of best practice.

    2013 Categories

    • Best in Community Engagement and Development

    • Best in Cultural Preservation

    • Best in Protection of Natural Areas and/or Wildlife Conservation

    • Best in Resource Efficiency 

    • Most Inspiring Responsible Tourism Accommodation Provider

    • Most Inspiring Responsible Tour Operator (NEW!) 

    Wild Asia’s Responsible Tourism Awards is one of the first tourism award in Asia specifically focused on sustainable tourism best practices. Established by Wild Asia in 2006, this annual award aims to recognize accommodation operators who are making a positive difference in the destination where they operate by adopting sustainable management practices.Wild Asia is legally chartered as a Malaysian company  and operates as a “social enterprise”, a concept for a business with social or environmental missions

    More information:Amy McLoughlin, Responsible Tourism Awards Coordinator, amy@wildasia.org

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