The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is pleased to announce 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.

The WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, now in its 14th year, showcases business practices of the highest standards that balance the needs of ‘people, planet and profits’ within our sector.

All 15 Finalists illustrate great commitment to support a change in policies, business practices and consumer behavior towards a more sustainable tourism sector.

Following a rigorous 3-phase judging, which includes an onsite evaluation, Winners of the 2018 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards will be announced during the Awards Ceremony at the 18th WTTC Global Summit, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 18-19 April 2018.

Gloria Guevara, President & 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 showcase 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. I congratulate all the finalists who are playing such a significant role in ensuring the future sustainability of Travel & Tourism, and encourage the whole sector to learn from their best practice”.

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 program calls on tourism businesses to showcase just that.”

Awards Lead Judge, Graham Miller, Executive Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Surrey, said: “This year’s finalists represent all parts of the world but 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, are educating children about the importance of heritage, are 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

• &Beyond (South Africa)
• Global Himalayan Expedition (India)
• Sustainable Development Institute Mamirauá (Brazil)

Destination Award Finalists, who show commitment to supporting and delivering sustainable tourism best practices in their destinations:

• Corporación Parque Arví (Colombia)
• Riverwind Foundation (USA)
• Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (Canada)

Environment Award Finalists, whose organizations and companies achieved environmental best practice through biodiversity conservation, protection of natural habitats, addressing climate change, and green operations:

• Airport Authority Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
• Chumbe Island Coral Park – CHICOP (Tanzania)
• Meliá Hotels International (Spain)

Innovation Award Finalists, who provided innovative solutions to overcoming the challenges faced by Travel & Tourism in implementing sustainability in practice:

• Transportation Options (Canada)
• Virgin Atlantic (United Kingdom)
• 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:

• Cayuga Collection of Sustainable Luxury Hotels and Lodges (Costa Rica)
• Heritage Watch (Australia)
• 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.

Fiona Jeffery said: “The role of the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards is to inspire and educate. They identify responsible leadership in our industry and outstanding role models from which best practices can be learnt and built. Our role is to spread this knowledge and encourage a broader appreciation of environmental and ethical governance which helps drive a growing commitment to sustainable tourism practices, so they become part of the DNA of our industry and not the exception”.