Global Himalayan Expedition is the lone entry from India
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has announced the 15 Finalists for its 2018 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. The 2018 Finalists cut across five continents in the following categories: Community, Destination, Environment, Innovation and People. Global Himalayan Expedition is the only Indian entry found a place in this prestigious awards final list.
Now on its 14th year, the WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards showcases business practices of the highest standards that balance the needs of ‘people, planet and profits’ within the sector. All the 15 Finalists illustrate great commitment to support a change in policies, business practices and consumer behavior towards a more sustainable tourism sector.
The Winners of the 2018 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards will be announced during the Awards Ceremony at the 18th WTTC Global Summit, Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 18-19, 2018.
Gloria Guevara, President and CEO of WTTC said: “Sustainable growth is one of the sector’s most pressing challenges and a strategic priority for WTTC. The Tourism for Tomorrow Awards showcases the very best examples of how our sector is addressing this challenge, and contributing in a positive way to the sustainable development goals and a better world for all. As the Travel & Tourism sector continues to grow, and WTTC currently estimates global Travel & Tourism to have grown by nearly 4% in 2017, we have to ensure we safeguard the environment, local communities and cultural heritage, and our Awards programme calls on tourism businesses to showcase just that.”
Awards Lead Judge, Graham Miller, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Surrey, said that, “this year’s finalists represent all parts of the world and show that across the world, tourism can be a powerful way to achieve sustainability goals. “
“We see examples of tourism organizations that have created huge land and marine protected areas, educating children about the importance of heritage, empowering women and bringing micro-power to areas with no electricity. Some of these organizations are large and owned by shareholders, others are small and funded by a community or just an individual, but they all demonstrate that tourism can make today and tomorrow more sustainable.”
The Finalists of the 2018 WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, which is Headline sponsored by AIG Travel for the third year, are:
Community Award Finalists, whose organizations are committed to sustainable tourism leadership in local community development, empowerment and cultural heritage includes, Global Himalayan Expedition from India along with &Beyond from South Africa and Sustainable Development Institute Mamirauá from Brazil
Destination Award Finalists, who show commitment to supporting and delivering sustainable tourism best practices in their destinations are Corporación Parque Arví -Colombia, Riverwind Foundation-USA and Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association- Canada.
Environment Award Finalists, whose organisations and companies achieved environmental best practice through biodiversity conservation, protection of natural habitats, addressing climate change, and green operations are Airport Authority Hong Kong- Hong Kong, Chumbe Island Coral Park (CHICOP)- Tanzania and Meliá Hotels International-Spain.
Innovation Award Finalists, who provided innovative solutions to overcoming the challenges faced by Travel & Tourism in implementing sustainability in practice are Transportation Options – Canada, Virgin Atlantic – United Kingdom and Yayasan Karang Lestari Teluk Pemuteran (Pemuteran Bay Coral Protection Foundation), Indonesia.
People Award Finalists, who are dedicated to the development of capacity building, training and education to build a skilled tourism workforce for the future, are Cayuga Collection of Sustainable Luxury Hotels and Lodges- Costa Rica, Heritage Watch- Australia and TREE Alliance- Cambodia.
The winner of each category will be determined by the WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards 2018 winners’ selection committee which is chaired by Fiona Jeffery OBE, Tourism for Tomorrow Awards Chair, and composed of: Sandra Howard Taylor, Vice Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia; Jack Spengler, Director of the Centre for Health and the Global Environment of the Harvard Chan School; and Darrell Wade, Co-Founder and CEO of Intrepid Group.
Global Himalayan Expedition
The Himalayas have always been the force inspiring and guiding humanity ahead. Right from the early Gods of Hinduism, to many great Buddhist saints, and recently the greatest idols of the Music and Technology world like the Beatles and Steve Jobs, all have drawn from these mountains a great deal of what they later gave back to the world .The purpose of this expedition is to have the Holistic Himalayan Experience, stretching across pure adventure and cultural connect with the local communities to setting up sustainable energy and education based infrastructure in these remote regions.
Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) experience is dubbed as the Adventure Pilgrimage and visitors to get to the great mountains, and let the peaks inspire you. The team GHE, says that they don’t see themselves in the field of running expeditions; they seems themselves as just facilitators for a memorable experience, whose job is to create a fertile environment for future growth and collaborations, for both the participants and the hosts.
