Finalists of 2013 UNWTO Ulysses Awards for Innovation in Tourism

Every year since 2003, the UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism have honored tourism initiatives that contribute to advance tourism through knowledge and innovation, in line with the principles of the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Now, the finalists of the 2013 UNWTO Ulysses Awards for Innovation in Tourism, one of the three categories in the annual UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism, have been named.

The finalists, in alphabetical order, of the 2013 UNWTO Ulysses Awards for Innovation, are:

UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance

- Interactive System of Tourist Information, Office of the Marshal of the Pomorskie Voivodeship (Poland)

- Kwita Izina, Rwanda Development Board (Rwanda)

- Responsible Tourism Project at Kumarakom, Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala (India)

UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Enterprises

- Arromanches 1944, Biplan (France)

- Icon Hotel Limited, Hotel Icon (Hong Kong)

- International Quality Brand for Hospitality for All, Village for All SRL (Italy)

- Talasoplaya Spa Project, Aqua Maris Foundation and Summum Design Global Projects (Spain)

UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Non-Governmental Organizations

- Alqueva Dark Sky Programme, Genuineland (Portugal)

- Big Blog Exchange, Hostelling International (United Kingdom)

- From Charity to Social Entrepreneurship, Borneo Ecotourism Solutions and Technologies (BEST) Society (Malaysia)

UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Research and Technology

- 3D AR Virtual Portal “Juraj Dalmatinac”, DSP Studio & Momentum Studio (Croatia)

- Smart Tour Guide, KTO (Republic of Korea)

- V4A Inside, Village for All SRL (Italy)

The winners will be unveiled during the UNWTO Awards Ceremony to be held on 22 January 2014. The ceremony organized, for the first time, in collaboration with the International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR) in Madrid, Spain, is one of the several events organized by UNWTO within the framework of FITUR.

The UNWTO Awards Ceremony will be followed by the UNWTO Knowledge Network Symposium on 23 January 2014. The symposium will showcase the projects of the winners of the UNWTO Awards in the different categories. It will further include keynote speeches by the 2013 UNWTO Ulysses Prize and Lifetime Achievement laureates (awardees to be announced shortly) and a high level panel on knowledge management in tourism and on how to improve knowledge flows within the tourism community.