RT Awards 2009 Finalists Announced!

The Wild Asia RT Team has deliberated on the entries and has chosen this year’s responsible tourism finalists. Once again we saw entries from across Asia, namely from Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and India. The entries received were of high quality based on the strength of the completed WA RT Checklist (a self-assessment tool) and had posed a challenge to the judging process. Even deciding on the most appropriate category is challenging for the team.

This year, our judging team was assisted by Sarah Loftus (UK) and Sarah Baxter (Taiwan), two alumni of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism's Master Programme in the UK, who helped us vet through each entry and highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Our decisions were made impartially, in which the finalists were selected through in-depth research and guided by analysis and recommendations by qualified verifiers.

Our Finalists for 2009

Large

• Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa, Kota Kinabalu
• ITC Mughal, Agra, India

Mid Size

• El Nido Resorts, Philippines
• Soneva Fushi, Male, Maldives

Small

• Lamai Homestay, Thailand
• Nikoi, Indonesia

Community-Based Tourism (CBT)

• Andaman Discoveries, Thailand
• Sundarbans Jungle Camp, Bali Island, India

What's Next?
The RT team will be heading out on a manic schedule for ground visits of all the highlighted properties. The objective of these trips is to learn and verify on-ground practices. Our Fact-finding team includes a fact-finder to verify the completed self-assessment checklist, a communications member to report on the findings and a photo/videographer to document the fact-finding process. The team will be feeding back reports to the judging team, and we'll be sitting down together at the end to make our final decisions in search of this year’s Responsible Tourism winner.

More in October
We will be working on a mad timeline to provide the following at the very latest, by end of the year:

1. Verifiers report on all entries for 2009 with a round up of the challenges faced by operators in Asia.
2. RTA Blog entries for all site visits.
3. Feature stories on all site visits.
4. Video blog (Vlog) for all site visits.
5. DVD for the 2009 awards (e.g what is RT?, our thoughts on the finalists and examples of good practices.)
6. Web video promo on summing up the 2009 awards.
7. Lots of pictures and video footage.
   

Want to learn more?
As part of our efforts to share our learning, all finalists will be invited to our annual RT Training Workshop which will be attended by a selected pool of media and tourism operators. This unique 2-day workshop, now in its 3rd year, provides the essential grounds to understand and learn from operators already committed to Responsible Tourism in Asia, hence titled “RT in Action!” To register (seats are limited) for the workshop, please visit our website.

RTA 2008 video now live!

Having spent hours editing, slicing, rendering and all sorts of post processing - Wild Asia's Responsible Tourism Award 2008 video is finally worthy of viewing. Many thanks to Emran Taib and his team for their meticulous hard work and sacrificed rest to see this through.

Catch a glimpse of what Responsible Tourism (RT) is all about and find out what some of the tourism operators are doing to create a positive impact on the environment and the local communities surroundding it. The video highlights RT best practices as examples for other operators to step into the programme and to help tourists make a green and sound travel plan for their next trip.

Keep an eyes peeled on this space as we bring you video snippets of RTA 2009 finalists site visits - happening in the coming month!

Draft Programme for "Responsible Tourism for Media & Tourism Professionals" Training Workshop

Our draft programme for this year's annual workshop is now live. Check it out and do sign up for places. Seats are limited. This year the workshop will focus on members of the media and tourism professionals.

About the workshop?
This annual training workshop provides a background to sustainability principles in tourism and numerous case studies from the region. The workshop aims to help arm the media, property owners, managers and tourism professionals with what is going on in the region. The workshop format and discussions will make this a truly engaging event. By sharing the winners’ best practices and demonstrating how easy and beneficial Responsible Tourism is to implement, we hope to inspire change with other operators. Who should attend? We are targeting the workshop at the media and tourism practitioners (managers or business owners) and will be focusing on practical examples from Asia. We also think people who sell tourism (marketing managers) would also benefit from the workshop. It will help you understand what you will be marketing and more importantly, help you market meaningfully.

To learn more about the workshop, click here.

RTA on FuturArc Magazine

A few months back, journalist Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle from FuturArc contacted us to propose writing a story on Eco-Tourism for their Green Issue. FuturArc is a quarterly journal published by media group BCI Asia "that showcases the new and progressive in architecture in Asia-Pacific. Recognising the significant impact the built form has on society and the environment, FuturArc advocates for architecture that demonstrates creativity, social responsibility and sustainability. It encourages architects, engineers and developers to become innovators in design and early adopters of technologies."

FuturArc published its annual green issue highlighting pertinent issues concerning the world of architecture and the environment. "Travel with a conscience" was the story churned out by Y-Jean with quotes from Dr. Reza about eco-tourism and its impacts on the natural, built and social environments. The article also highlighted reasons why people participate in eco-tours and what improvements could be made and new initiatives taken to lessen the impact on the environment.

Click on the image below to read the article. If you would like a soft copy of the article, email rt@wildasia.org. Enjoy the read!

July 2009 Update: Chance to Wild Asia site visits

Wild Asia is keen to work with keen Malaysian-based photo or video talent. We are looking out for someone that can help us bring out the best in this year's finalists. If you are chosen you will get an exclusive privilege of joining our fact finding mission this year.

Why bother?
A chance to visit new places and get behind the scenes with some of the region's most inspiring tourism operators. Your work will help us highlight the winners and do more to inspire others.

The catch?
None really. Wild Asia's work is always licensed under the creative commons banner and you will hold all rights to your material. We just ask for the freedom to use your photographs to highlight the cause.

The costs?
Your basic travel costs (flight tickets and accommodation) will be fully covered. Other travel related costs (meals, in-bound travel) is on your own.

The date(s)?
Visits are planned for August and September. If you are able to spare at least 5 days per trip (and there are 8 planned across Asia) you stand a chance to be part of as many trips as possible.

Do send us a link to your work before 27th July 2009 and let us know the dates you can travel between August to September. If you need more information, do contact us at rt@wildasia.org.