Tourism Indochina: World Tourism News: 2012 WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards winners unveiled

2012 WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards winners unveiled

Three companies and one destination, from four continents, have been recognised for their best practices in sustainable tourism at this year’s World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Tourism for Tomorrow Awards.

The four winners were selected from 12 Award finalists and announced onstage during the opening ceremony of the WTTC Global Summit in Tokyo, Japan on 17 April.

The WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards are among the highest accolades in the Travel & Tourism industry, and recognise companies, organisations and destinations around the world which showcase outstanding sustainable tourism achievements. They are the only global sustainable tourism awards that include on-site evaluation inspections of all finalists, conducted by a team of expert international judges.

The 2012 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards winners hail from South America, North America, Europe, and Asia. These diverse set of winners and emerged as victors over 150 entries from more than 60 countries.

The winners are:
Community Benefit Award - Saunders Hotel Group, USA:
- This local family-owned hotel group has been a leader in sustainable tourism practices as far back as the early 1980s, when they converted an old police building in Boston, Massachusetts into an historic hotel and worked with local community partners to build affordable housing in the same area. Through initiatives that are driven and supported by all levels of their staff, the group supports dozens of local charity and non-profit groups with a combination of financial backing, volunteer time, and in-kind resources that goes far beyond most corporate social responsibility efforts. For Saunders, community service begins at ‘home’, where helping people in need is part of the company mission, recognising that disadvantaged communities can also exist in a major city in the United States.

Conservation Award - Inkaterra, Peru:
This hotel boasts long term conservation stewardship of 38,000 acres of rainforest in the Amazon basin and 25 acres of cloud forest within the Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary. Founded in 1975, Inkaterra has grown into a renowned biodiversity research and conservation tourism company operating five hotels in the Sanctuary of Machu Picchu and the Madre de Dios area of the Amazon rainforest. As well as a 100% carbon neutral hotel stay for every guest, Inkaterra has continued to implement a host of self-supported, sustainable tourism projects to facilitate a better understanding among tourists and local peoples about the need to protect fragile habitats in the Andes and the Amazon of Peru, which is home to 84 of the world’s 104 identified ecological life zones.

Destination Stewardship Award - Destination Røros, Norway:
Their successful multi-stakeholder approach to creating a thriving sustainable tourism destination in the old mining town of Røros, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is an example for many to follow. Since the end of mining in the late 1970’s, Destination Røros has been instrumental in reversing the area’s environmental degradation, guided by a management plan that actively engages and builds cooperation among local communities, municipal authorities, and private sector stakeholders. Emphasis is placed on demonstrating that historical cultural sites and formerly degraded natural areas can be revitalised and utilised in new contexts through sustainable development, thereby bringing tangible economic benefits to the local people. Destination Røros is also a pilot project for Norway’s country-wide Sustainable Tourism Initiative.

Global Tourism Business Award - Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, headquartered in Singapore:
Their longstanding commitment to sustainability and creating tourism value recognition among stakeholders to support the protection of diverse natural and cultural heritage in worldwide destinations ranging from Mexico to China. Banyan Tree works through a three-pillar strategy: enhancing efficiency in environmental operations, conserving natural heritage and biodiversity, and social and economic empowerment of local people in the countries and regions where they operate. In addition to strong sustainable tourism practices, Banyan Tree has also fully integrated sustainability monitoring and evaluation across the company including its annual reports, in addition to issuing annual stand-alone sustainability performance reports that document projects, successes, and challenges. They have successfully done this for more than a decade, while also being one of the first global hospitality companies in the world to ban the sale of shark’s fin in all of their hotels in 2006.

David Scowsill, President & CEO, WTTC, said: ‘The Awards have been under WTTC’s stewardship for the last nine years. Since then, they have grown in calibre and reach, but the premise is the same: to give international recognition to outstanding examples of sustainable practices, from Travel & Tourism businesses across the globe.’
David continued: ‘All finalists and winners are inspiring cases of businesses providing sustainable solutions to real world problems. These actions espouse the ethos of Tourism for Tomorrow, and demonstrate true leadership in the industry.’

Commenting on their achievements, Costas Christ, Chairman of Judges, WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, noted: ‘Sustainable tourism principles are no longer solely the realm of a handful of well-meaning companies. Today, sustainability itself has emerged on the global stage as a new indicator of tourism quality, alongside traditional quality standards such as excellent guest services or a room with a view. What this means is that a measure of a company or tourism destination’s success, is now increasingly tied to their quality of sustainable tourism best practice. This is not a passing trend, but rather a positive and needed evolution of the tourism industry. The winners of this year’s Tourism for Tomorrow Awards exemplify how tourism, when planned and managed well, can be a tremendous opportunity to help safeguard our planet and deliver tangible benefits to local people.’

The Tourism for Tomorrow winners underwent a rigorous four-step judging process by more than 20 independent judges from around the world, led by Costas Christ, a globally recognised expert in sustainable tourism.

The Tourism for Tomorrow Awards are organised in association with Travelport and the Travel Corporation's Conservation Foundation.
For further information about the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards and the judging process, please visit: www.tourismfortomorrow.com

Follow the Summit and have your say on our official twitter feed @WTandTC, using #WTTC2012

For further information about the Global Summit, please visit www.wttc.org/events
- ends -

For media information, please contact:

Anja Eckervogt
Media Relations Manager
Tourism for Tomorrow Awards Programme Manager
+44 (0) 7871040170
anja.eckervogt@wttc.org
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Tourism Indochina: World Tourism News: Visa facilitation can create five million additional jobs in G20 economies

Visa facilitation can create five million additional jobs in G20 economies

17 May 2012

Visa facilitation is central to stimulating economic growth and job creation through tourism. The G20 can have a particularly important role to play in this respect. G20 economies could boost their international tourist numbers by an additional 122 million, generate an extra US$ 206 billion in tourism exports and create over five million additional jobs by 2015 by improving visa processes, according to preliminary research by UNWTO and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) presented on the occasion of the T20 Ministers’ Meeting (Merida, Mexico, 16 May 2012).

Preliminary findings show that of the 656 million international tourists who visited G20 countries in 2011, 110 million needed a visa, while millions more were deterred from traveling by the cost, waiting time and difficulty of obtaining a visa.

Facilitating visas for these tourists, many from some of the world’s fastest growing source markets, could create over five million additional jobs in the G20 economies by 2015 and generate an additional US$ 206 billion in international tourism receipts.

In spite of the great strides made in recent decades to facilitate tourist travel, there are still important areas of opportunity, namely considering the possibilities to maximize the use of information and communication technologies in improving visa procedures. Further opportunities include improving the delivery of information, facilitating current processes to obtain visas, differentiated treatment to facilitate tourist travel, instituting eVisa programmes and establishing regional agreements for visa facilitation.

Implementing any or a combination of these can yield substantial returns in visits, tourism receipts and jobs for the G20 economies. Referring particularly to the dramatic situation of unemployment, UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, called on G20 Governments to look into enhancing visa facilitation in support of job creation. “Small steps towards visa facilitation can result in big economic benefits. By facilitating visas, the G20 countries stand to gain five million jobs at a time of rampant unemployment across the world. These are in addition to the hundreds of millions of direct and indirect jobs already being supported every day by the sector.”

David Scowsill, President & CEO, WTTC, said: “Encouraging freedom to travel is a simple step that Governments around the world can take to encourage more travellers and the creation of millions of new jobs and billions of dollars of GDP – without compromising national security. For the first time, this report makes clear the extent of the opportunity – it cannot be ignored.”

Contacts:

Principal Media Officer: Marcelo Risi
Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60
mrisi@UNWTO.org

WTTC Media Relations Manager: Anja Eckervogt,
Tel: (+44) 20 7481 6484
anja.eckervogt@WTTC.org
www.WTTC.org


The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO: www.UNWTO.org), a United Nations specialized agency, is the leading international organization with the decisive and central role in promoting the development of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. It serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues and a practical source of tourism know-how. Its membership includes 155 countries, 7 territories, 2 permanent observers and over 400 Affiliate Members. Follow us on twitter, vimeo and flickr.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the global authority on the economic and social contribution of Travel & Tourism. It promotes sustainable growth for the industry, working with governments and international institutions to create jobs, to drive exports and to generate prosperity. Travel & Tourism accounts for 258 million jobs globally. At US$6 trillion (9.1% of GDP) the sector is a key driver for investment and economic growth. For more than 20 years, the World Travel & Tourism Council has been the voice of this industry globally. Members are the Chairs, Presidents and Chief Executives of the world’s leading, private sector Travel & Tourism businesses. These Members bring specialist knowledge to guide government policy and decision-making, raising awareness of the importance of the industry as an economic generator of prosperity.

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Tourism Indochina: Standards out for tourism officials

Standards out for tourism officials

Housekeeping and front offices at hotels around Cambodia are set to change as the country prepares to adopt regional standards that all ASEAN nations are trying to put in place.

The draft document on housekeeping and front-office standards, and related training courses, had been finalised by Tourism Ministry officials, Try Chhiv, director of the National Committee for Tourism Professionals, said.

The committee would wait until July, when ASEAN officials send copies of ASEAN’s standard documents, in order to ensure uniformity, he said.

The documents, implemented by trainers, trainees and employers, would become the standard for evaluating professional staff, Try Chhiv said yesterday.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon said the preparation of services in compliance with ASEAN standards was crucial for Cambodian tourism.

“I want Cambodia to go along with ASEAN,” he said.

Thong Khon said Cambodia did not yet have state-run professional schools for training, but staff were trained by private-sector partners.

Cambodia’s tourism sector employed about 400,000 people and would need twice that number by 2020, Ang Kim Eang, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, said.

Source: PPPost/22May2012

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Tourism Indochina: Visitors from Vietnam up 18 per cent in Q1

Visitors from Vietnam up 18 per cent in Q1

The number of Vietnamese tourists visiting Cambodia and Cambodians visiting Vietnam has increased recently, according to new data released by the Cambodian tourism ministry.

Vietnam has the largest number of tourists visiting Cambodia at 600,000, or 21 per cent, of all international visitors.

In the first quarter this year there was an 18 per cent increase in the number of Vietnamese tourists compared to the same time last year, said Thong Khon, Cambodia’s tourism minister.

“Most Vietnamese tourists who come to Cambodia visit Angkor Wat and many report that they like Cambodian fish and enjoy visiting Cambodian markets,” said Thong Khon.

The Cambodian tourism ministry estimates that the number of Cambodians visiting Vietnam has increased by 30 per cent annually over the past several years.

“About 420,000 Cambodians visit Vietnam annually, and many go there for health care,” said Thong Khon.

He said the ministry is very interested in increasing tourism between not only Vietnam but especially other nearby ASEAN nations.

“We have a lot of projects to increase tourism in the region,” he said.

Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam held talks on the subject at the 8th International Travel Expo in Ho Chi Minh City from September 14 to 17 last year, and the Cambodian tourism ministry plans to attend another from the September 13 to 15 this year, he said.

Vietnam and Cambodia now have a cross-border transportation agreement under which 19 companies have licences to operate.

Thirty-nine trips with 300 buses travel to and from Ho Chi Minh and Phnom Penh every day, according to the Cambodian tourism ministry.

Recently another luxury bus service, offering six trips a day to Phnom Penh from Ho Chi Minh City, has been launched by the Cambodian tourism ministry and NagaWorld Group.

Source: PPPost/22May2012

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Tourism Indochina: Preah Vihear on the tourist trail

Preah Vihear on the tourist trail

The number of international tourists visiting Preah Vihear temple increased more than 166 per cent in the first four months of this year compared to the same time last year, tourism officials said yesterday.

Combat between Cambodia and Thailand over an area near the temple discouraged tourism in the region early last year.

Kong Vibol, Preah Vihear province’s tourism department director, said the number of foreign tourists increased from 950 in the first four months of last year compared to 2,527 this year.

“Most of [the] tourists come from Asia, and they go there by driving [their own vehicles], but there are not so many tourists [who] went there [in] groups,” said Kong Vibol.

The number of Cambodians visiting the temple increased more than 49 per cent between January and April. “We see more and more visitors at the temple because there were not many last year due to the clash in February,” Kong Vibol said.

Kong said he expects the number of tourists to decrease in the coming months because of the rainy season.

According to Ho Vandy, co-chair of the government-private sector working group on tourism, said visiting the site of Thai-Cambodian border clashes was a main reason for visiting the temple. More tourists are also arriving due to better roads and other infrastructure in the region, he said.

The last stronghold of the Khmer Rouge, Anlong Veng, has also become a popular destination.

“The private sector is trying to promote the temple with tourist packages. There wasn’t any interest but now things are starting to change,” he added.

Source: PPPost/18May2012

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Tourism Indochina: Phnom Penh, new destination

Phnom Penh, new destination

Starting 27 March 2011, Air France will begin operating a new service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital. Flight bookings and ticket sales are now open.

The three weekly flights between Paris and Phnom Penh, with a stopover in Bangkok, will be operated by Airbus A340-300 equipped with 275 seats (30 in Business, 21 in Premium Voyageur and 224 in Voyageur-Economy), and subsequently during summer 2011 by Boeing 777-200ER equipped with 309 seats (35 in Business, 24 in Premium Voyageur and 250 in Voyageur-Economy).

Flight schedules between Paris and Phnom Penh

Paris-CDG / Phnom Penh
AF 274, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
Departing at 19:30, and arriving in Bangkok at 11:50, the following day,
Departing for Phnom Penh the same day at 13:20, arriving at 14.35
Phnom Penh / Paris-CDG
AF 273, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
Departing at 20:15, and arriving in Bangkok at 21:30
Departing for Paris the same day at 22:55, and arriving at 06:10, the following day.

Flight times allow customers to benefit from convenient connecting opportunities to and from destinations worldwide at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.


Source: Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia

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Tourism Indochina: Bicycle tours take people off the beaten path around Cambodia

Bicycle tours take people off the beaten path around Cambodia

Cycling is becoming increasingly popular in Cambodia, and bicycle tours are being seen as an active and exciting way for tourists to see the less noticed parts of the kingdom, said Adam Platt-Hepworth, the regional manager of Grasshopper Adventures, a bike tour company.

Grasshopper Adventures, at #23 on Street 144, runs regular tours in numerous Southeast Asian countries, and operates through other tour services in other nearby countries such as China, India and Malaysia.

The company was started four years ago and was run out of a house in Tuol Sleng. “At first it was really hard to get business because Cambodia was not known as a bike riding destination,” said Platt-Hepworth. “Our first real break came when we were mentioned in a Lonely Planet guide and a few in-flight magazines,” he said.

Now the company has two locations in Cambodia, in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, and runs one or two tours from Phnom Penh a day and two to three from Siem Reap, depending on the time of year. Most of their business comes from online bookings and is mostly Australian or western tourists, but is becoming popular among tourists from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, he said.

The most popular trips are day trips to the Mekong islands, the Siem Reap countryside and a 16-day trip from Angkor Wat to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, which has a two day stopover on Phu Quoc Island.

The company has looked at expanding to other places across the Kingdom, and north-east Cambodia was considered, but the number of tourists was deemed to be too small, Platt-Hepworth said.

The company works with social development NGO SokSaBike, which operates bike tours in Battambang.

“They were using old classic-style bikes for the tours so we donated newer and better bikes to them because we wanted to support them,” he said. More details, please visit PhnomPenhPost.com

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