Responsible Tourism Award Winners unveiled

Emeritus professor Harold Goodwin, managing director of the Responsible Tourism Partnership and chair of the judges said: “All our Rest of the World Responsible Tourism Award winners competed in a very tough field and are all outstanding examples of initiatives which will provide inspiration for other destinations and organisations to learn from.”

The Rest of the World gold Responsible Tourism Award winners are: 

TUI for making tourism inclusive. It has partnered with AccessAble to survey hotels and develop detailed access guides which are now available online. 

Borneo Adventure, a specialist tour operator based in Malaysia is working with the local Iban communities in Sarawak in a way which has increasing local sourcing and created shared value. 

The Scottish Crannog Centre open-air museum recreates an Iron Age village on the banks of Loch Tay and sources as much as possible from within the travelling distance of the museum.

Wise Sustainability wins gold for its work in tackling climate change and assisting businesses in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

The Rest of the World silver Responsible Tourism Award winners are: 

Six Senses, Zighy Bay in Oman has hotel has worked in partnership with the Dibba Women’s Association to create a new immersive experience called “Sense of Oman through a Woman’s Eyes”. 

Costa Navarino in the southwest Peloponnese of Greece wins silver for its nature-positive approach such as the Navarino Environmental Observatory collaboration with Stockholm University and the Academy of Athens. 

In addition, the judges commended three “ones to watch” which are Pitchup.com commended for its work surveying 2000 disabled people, Broughton Sanctuary in Yorkshire for the scale of its vision and ambition to be a regenerative space though rewilding, and Vegan Travel Asia for the significant effort it is taking as a niche company to measure and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The Rest of The World gold winners now contend with global finalists for a global Responsible Tourism Award sponsored by Sabre which will be announced on 4 November.