Indonesia among category winners of British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Awards

Five tourism projects, including an Indonesian National Park, have picked up top honours in the UK's leading environmental tourism awards.

The British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Awards are a showcase of the world's role models for responsible tourism and are judged by an independent panel of experts. This year, more than 70 projects from 37 countries were entered for the competition.

The five category award winners will now go forward to compete for the global award, which will be announced at a ceremony on December 2, 2003.

The category winners are:

National Parks and Protected Areas - Bunaken National Marine Park (Indonesia) - The park's management initiative has brought an end to damaging environmental practices such as coral mining, mangrove cutting, and blast and cyanide fishing. At the same time it has helped improve livelihood opportunities for 30,000 local residents.

Tourism Organisation - ATG (UK) - An independent tour operator based in Oxford, specialising in worldwide walking holidays founded on principles of environmental conservation and sustainability.

Accommodation Project - Hotel Finca Rosa Blanca (Costa Rica) - The hotel aims to create an ecological haven and a sustainable tourist destination. It has a recycling policy for all waste, a responsible approach to energy use, and donates five percent of its restaurant profits to purchasing books for a local school.

Environmental Experience - Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk (Western Australia) - The project was created to tackle the damage caused to the site's ancient tingle trees due to large numbers of visitors. A canopy walkway was built 40 metres above the ground to protect the trees and visitors are now educated about the importance of the site by Aboriginal guides.

Large Scale - Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation (Worldwide) - The code joins together the private sector and ECPAT, the children's rights non governmental organisation, in a code which seeks the voluntary commitment of global tourism companies to prevent the sexual exploitation of children around the world.

The awards assess how projects benefit the local community, protect the natural and cultural heritage, control energy and water use, educate local people and visitors and contribute towards a better life for future generations.

Judges include environmental and conservation experts such as Sir Crispin Tickell, Professor David Bellamy, Martin Brackenbury, president of the International Federation of Tour Operators, and Nigel Winser, deputy director of the Royal Geographical Society.

Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge, British Airways' chairman said: "These awards encourage, recognise and reward excellence in the field of sustainable tourism development. British Airways began sponsoring Tourism for Tomorrow eleven years ago and we are proud of its achievements since then, on behalf of so many fragile environments and communities around the world. We congratulate each of the 2003 category winners and wish them good luck for the global award".

Added Mr Stephen Limbrick, Regional General Manager, Qantas & British Airways South East Asia, said: "As our business is about travel, encouraging responsible tourism has always been one of our investment priorities. The efforts of various organisations that have actively contributed to the sustainable environment of the communities in which we operate are indeed commendable. The award win by Indonesia marks yet another significant achievement for the South East Asia region." 

"We are confident that the winners will continue to set the benchmark for many more awards to come," said Mr Limbrick.

In addition the judges have selected highly commended runners-up in each category. They are: Cousin Island Special Reserve (Seychelles), Saunders Hotel Group (Boston, USA), Community Tourism Project (Brazil), Aga Khan Cultural Service, Ganish Village (Pakistan), Ranweli Holiday Village (Sri Lanka), P&O Resorts Heron Island Junior Rangers Programme (Australia), and Whistler/Blackcomb (Canada).