Tribes scoops BA tourism for tomorrow award

Thursday, 05 Dec, 2002 0

Tribes Travel, an independent, Suffolk based travel company emerged as the world’s top sustainable tourism organisation at this year’s British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow awards.

Tribes Travel scooped the accolade of ‘Global Winner 2002’ in the worldwide competition which raises awareness of the world’s role models for responsible tourism.

The tour operator specialises in global trips covering cultural holidays, wildlife safaris, trekking trips and short breaks and ensures that an average of 75 per cent of the trip price goes back to the host country.

Based on fair trade principles, the company’s aim has been to become market leaders in sustainable and responsible tourism by offering holidays that also benefit the local community, the environment and wildlife. The firm has a supplier-vetting programme and provides travellers with destination information and guidelines for travelling responsibly in host countries.

Professor David Bellamy, Chairman of the judging panel said: “Tribes Travel will make a great global role model for other small tour operators. They have successfully combined the wish – lists of discerning tourists with the needs of local communities worldwide. Responsible tourism principles such as these are vital if we are to protect biodiversity and cultural diversity for generations to come.”

To mark the tenth anniversary of British Airways’ sponsorship, a special life time achievement award was presented to the American conservationist Ruth Kessling. The award recognises her life long commitment to the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund in Rwanda.

Below is the full list of category winners and highly commended entries:

Category

Category	Winner	Highly commended
National parks and protected areas	Bouma National Heritage Park Taveuni, Figi.	UNESCO-NTA Lao Nam Ha Ecotourism Project
Environmental Experience	Oak Hammock marsh Interpretive Centre, Canada	Marine discovery centre, Queenscliffe, Australia
Accommodation	Club Sun N Sand, Kenya	Tiamo Resorts, Bahamas
Built Environment	Greaves Travel in association with Jaisalmar in Jeopardy, UK and India	Kasbah du Toubkal, Discover Limited, UK
Tourism Organisation	Tribes Travel, Suffolk, UK	Exodus Travel, UK
Large scale Tourism	No winner	Xcaret, Cancun, Mexico