Yesterday saw the launch of the new ICRT global, a non-profit on a mission to share more knowledge and understanding of Responsible Tourism to make better places for people to live in, and better places for people to visit. In that order. We want to share our collective knowledge to help people make essential changes in travel and tourism. The ICRT global plans to share ideas and proven and tested ways of ‘making tourism better’. The Global Responsible Tourism Awards sponsored by Sabre were announced at the inaugural ICRT global conference yesterday. We established the Responsible Tourism Awards to identify and showcase good practices and encourage replication.
When Justin Francis of Responsible Travel launched the Responsible Tourism Awards in 2004 and asked me to chair them, I don’t think either of us imagined that they would still be going strong, gathering strength, two decades later. There are now regional awards for Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, and to ensure that no business, organisation or destination is denied the opportunity to enter, there is a Rest of the World regional award.
The most important judging criteria we use are designed to encourage positive change, to make tourism better:
- Evidence-based: The panel are looking for evidence of real change, businesses which can convincingly demonstrate positive impacts, or reduced negative impacts, quantified wherever possible.
- Replicability: The Awards aim to inspire change; we seek to identify examples of best practices which can be replicated across the sector and around the world.
- Innovation: The judges are looking for innovative practices that make a real difference, the Awards highlight new good practices, which the judges believe, can, and should, become common practice.
The Gold winners from all the regional awards are automatically entered into the Global Awards. The judging is difficult, because we now get such good entries, people through businesses, organisations and destinations taking responsibility and making tourism better for local communities, their natural and cultural environment and their visitors.
Sabre, with their Travel Positive approach, sponsors the 2025 Global Responsible Tourism Awards. The winners are:
1. Employing and upskilling local communities – Grootbos Lodge & the Green Futures College, South Africa Grootbos Private Nature Reserve & Grootbos Foundation
Tourism creates diverse employment opportunities, and local employment has long been recognised as a very important way of ensuring that local communities benefit from visitors and tourism businesses. However, there are still many challenges; employment inequalities, instability through seasonal variations and lack of growth opportunities, to name a few. We are looking for tourism businesses that are making a conscious effort to recruit, train and promote local people to provide long-term stable employment and opportunities for local communities.
Grootbos has been conserving a growing part of the fynbos overlooking Walker Bay since 1994, generating funds for conservation and upskilling and empowering people in its neighbouring communities. The Lodge upskills, trains and mentors its staff and supports and promotes local producers. Through the Grootbos Foundation, it provides free skills and business training for employment and ‘economic dignity’ for local people. Its Green Futures College covers the training costs, uniforms, transport, food, stipends and childcare for between 20 and 24 unemployed people each year. The Grootbos Foundation, funded by the business and other donors, has provided fully funded training to 92 horticulture graduates since 2003, 115 hospitality graduates since 2014, entrepreneurship training for 849; seed funding and mentorship to 189 independent small businesses, and trained 20 female biodiversity stewards now working in two independent contractor teams in the local landscape. This citation cannot capture all that has resulted from the efforts of a tourism enterprise on the fynbos, largely devoid of the charismatic megafauna found on safari and in the ocean.
2. Making tourism inclusive – TUI UK & Ireland Accessible Holidays Strategy
The travel industry is lagging behind other sectors in advancing inclusion. The travel and tourism sector needs to widen its offer. The need for action is more pressing than ever. Inclusive travel ensures that all travellers feel welcome and included and can have an appropriate experience in a destination. It fosters belonging and empowers individuals to sign up for new experiences. We are looking for businesses that are avidly working to ensure that inclusion has a stronger place in tourism’s future.
TUI UK&I serve over six million holidaymakers a year. TUI’s Accessible Holidays Strategy team sits within Customer Experience and works to enable those with access needs to book accommodation that meets their needs. TUI has partnered with AccessAble to survey hotels and develop ‘Detailed Access Guides’ available online. The team of 90 staff with specialist training and knowledge regularly achieve 9.5/10 customer satisfaction scores, and they have partnered with Sign Live to provide interpreting services for British Sign Language Users via video relay. The judges were pleased to see a major tour operator address the needs of those with access needs and hoped that others would follow their example.
3. What are you doing about climate change? Jetwing Hotels, Sri Lanka
The results of climate change can manifest in many ways, and the tourism industry is exceptionally vulnerable. Each year, the impact becomes more evident and, for many, more disastrous. Droughts, floods, wildfires, and extreme weather conditions devastate communities and businesses in destinations across the world. They are no longer unusual or isolated incidences. We are looking for businesses and destinations actively contributing to the decarbonisation of tourism operations and exploring innovative ways to protect against threats to ensure business continuity.
Jetwing Hotels currently secures 60% of its energy from renewable sources, from biomass, solar PV, solar thermal, and biogas. The first system was commissioned at Jetwing Blue in 2010 – a 20 kW roof-mount system with a battery backup. In 2023, Jetwing Hotels generated 1069 MWh of solar energy across its properties, equivalent to providing power for about 13,490 households and mitigating the release of 608 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, and PV is currently being delivered across a further twelve properties. The company has shortened its supply chain, reducing transport emissions, and is now sourcing 40% of their inputs locally to their hotels. It has reduced the operational cooling needs of its hotels through open architecture natural ventilation and building innovation with high roofs and double glazing, and now, it has four vapor absorption chillers operating that utilise steam generated by biomass boilers. This innovation and investment is based on a sound business case: “Our commitment to sustainability is driven by the desire to enhance our brand’s reputation and operational efficiency. By reducing energy costs and promoting a culture of environmental responsibility among our staff and guests, we ensure that our business practices are not only beneficial or the environment but also economically viable.” Jetwing Hotels encourages others to adopt sustainability: “By sharing our journey of sustainability, what we have learnt and achieved, we aim to inspire change and create a butterfly effect.” The judges wish them well in their endeavours and hope that others will follow.
4. Nature Positive – CREES, Peru
Wildlife and the natural environment are important drivers for travel. The travel and tourism sector depends on nature’s beauty to provide its goods and services, yet tourism can have negative impacts on the places we visit. The tourism sector has a responsibility to contribute to the reversal of biodiversity loss and protect nature for future generations by promoting a regenerative approach to tourism. We are looking for businesses that act as guardians of biodiversity and take a regenerative approach to their operations.
CREES offers a range of tours and volunteering opportunities as both internships and learning experiences. Operating in the Manu Biosphere Reserve CREES works to “promote sustainable alternatives that respect human rights, intergenerational rights, biodiversity rights, and the rights of its species to ensure long-term sustainable economic development.” This a broad and holistic agenda seeking to demonstrate through business that the community can find economically viable alternatives through the responsible management of natural resources. This is then shared with its clients through educational tourism. It has reduced greenhouse gas emissions, conserved over 600 hectares of forest in the buffer zone of Manu National Park and works with educational programmes to benefit the local people and conserve biodiversity.
5. Increasing local sourcing: creating shared value – Sivatel Bangkok Hotel, Thailand
As one of the world’s leading sectors of consumption, tourism provides many economic benefits, including employment and business opportunities. Far too often, the money does not recirculate with the local economy location or provide any benefit to the local people or environment. Tourism businesses can grow the local economy by spending on local goods and services and procuring services and products locally. We are looking for businesses that have local purchasing practices in place and are actively working to create and promote local businesses and sole traders through their own supply chain and encouraging visitors to buy locally produced crafts and souvenirs.
On its website the Sivatel spells out its Corporate Social Responsibility commitment to environmental sustainability driven by a commitment to their customers, their local community and the planet. The hotel sources 70% of its ingredients organically, aiming for 100% by 2030, and partners with over 50 local farmers through the “Sivatel’s Farmer Friends Network.” Achieving zero food waste to landfill in 2023, they strive for zero overall waste by 2024 and plan to integrate renewable energy by 2025. The Sivatel supports local producers and fosters a sustainable ecosystem through the “Sivatel Sustainable Market,” connecting staff, guests, and local vendors. The “From Kitchen to Chicken” program is a closed-loop system, diverting food scraps to feed black soldier fly larvae, which are then used as protein for organic chickens at Tankhun Organic Chicken Farm, promoting resource efficiency and fresh, organic eggs. Uniforms are designed by Folkcharm, a local sustainable fashion brand that works with a community in Loei, supporting local artisans while providing unique uniforms.
🌏🏆 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐤𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫…
Posted by Sivatel Bangkok Hotel on Tuesday 5 November 2024
6. Championing cultural diversity – Rajasthan Studio, India
Visiting a country goes far beyond visiting the honeypot landmarks. We travel to experience other peoples’ places, climates, built heritage, lived culture and the world’s diverse nature. By experiencing cultures other than our own, we broaden our understanding and respect for one another. We are looking for examples of destinations and businesses that are actively working to support the preservation and celebration of culture, and to create meaningful connections for visitors.
Rajasthan Studio curates art experiences with master artisans in Rajasthan, contributing to the preservation of the state’s local traditional crafts and culture. Their objective is to enable travellers to experience, understand and value the local culture of the place they are visiting and to meet local people to learn about the traditions, stories and local practices. Travellers can engage with master artists at home, meet their families, see the efforts and process behind making local handicrafts and create a personalised souvenir for themselves co-created with the crafter. The traveller can connect with the artist in an authentic Indian style. Tourists can understand the history and traditional practices of a specific art form, making a significant contribution to promoting, preserving and propagating art heritage. Rajasthan Studio has created a harmonious ecosystem where travellers and local artists mutually benefit. Travellers have an immersive cultural experience, while the artists enjoy a business opportunity that enriches the travel experience and benefits Rajasthan’s creative economy. The judges think that this is a highly replicable approach.
You may feel that you know of better, more worthy winners. Encourage them to apply. The judges of the regional and global awards can only choose from amongst those that apply.
The Responsible Tourism Awards for 2025, sponsored by Sabre, will open later this month. To keep up to date with the regional awards as they open and close through 2023, subscribe to Responsible Tourism News or keep checking back on ICRT global. There were two winners from Europe this year; we would like to launch a European Regional Award in 2025.
