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Winners Announced for Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award
Wednesday, 06 Mar, 2010
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Fancy rheindeer trekking?
The competition highlights the contribution of indigenous operators to biological and cultural diversity, and comprised applicants from 10 countries around the world (Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mexico, Micronesia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sweden). More than 400 people cast their vote, carefully examining all 14 websites that fit the ambitious criteria set on Planeta.com’s wiki site . Additionally, a jury composed of 6 internationally recognized experts in indigenous and sustainable tourism picked their choice using the same criteria.
The winner of the judged 2010 ITBW Award is Nutti Sami Siida, which features reindeer sled trips. Owners Nils Torbjörn Nutti and Carina Pingi are both Sami from Gabna Sameby, Sweden. The winner of the popular count 2010 ITBW Award is TIME Unlimited Tours from New Zealand, operated by the Maori-European couple Ceillhe Tewhare Teneti Hema Sperath and Néill Sperath, and providing personalised and interactive Auckland and Maori Indigenous Cultural Tours.
Runners up were:
- Brambuk National Park and Cultural Centre introduces visitors to the Grampians National Park (Gariwerd) in Victoria, Australia.
- Kakadu Culture Camp is owned and operated by Fred and Jenny Hunter, Aboriginal people from Australia’s Kakadu National Park.
- Chalalan Ecolodge is 100% run and owned by the indigenous community in Bolivia.
- Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre shares the cultures of two distinct indigenous cultures in a visionary partnership on shared traditional territories in Canada.
- Te Urewera Treks strives to operate in a sustainable manner in accord with Maori principles and values in New Zealand.
- Xe Pian National Protected Area features tours and accommodation owned and managed by local communities in Xe Pian NPA,southern Lao PDR.
The Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award is a collaborative effort between the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the leading ecotourism / responsible travel web portal Planeta.com with the generous support of the Heidehof Foundation. Plans are ongoing for an expanded 2012 award.
The award is aimed at private tourism services, owned and operated by indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles, and its main objectives are to motivate candidates to improve their online communication on biological and cultural diversity, to highlight their best practices in managing tourism and to raise operators and public awareness on biodiversity.
Winners will receive the award in April 2010 at a tourism trade fair, the Reisepavillon in Berlin, Germany. Since 1991, the Reisepavillon has been a global focal point for responsible tourism. An average of 25,000 visitors each year have an opportunity to meet competent tourism operators and practitioners in a wide-ranging programme of events (90-120 presentations, workshops and chaired discussions).
On this occasion, the Secretariat of the CBD will organize, with leading German tourism trade associations, an award ceremony with the presence of UNWTO’s Executive Director and GTZ executives (German technical assistance agency), and will assist winners and runners up to meet with leading operators and agents dedicated to sustainable tourism.
Winners will also receive technical support and participate in a workshop on innovative Web 2.0 tools for marketing and communications, facilitated by Planeta.com founder Ron Mader. A publication on the award, its nominees and winners and the lessons learned, will be distributed at event.
Valere Tjolle
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