The Caiman Ecological Refuge, located in Brazil’s Pantanal region (state of Mato Grosso do Sul) will represent Brazil as a finalist of the WTTC’s Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, aimed at organizations and establishments that adopt environmental best practices.
Awardees are selected based on their efforts aimed at biodiversity conservation, protection of natural habitats and climate change, among other criteria. The Refuge will compete on the ‘Environment Award’ category with two other contestants (one from the UK and one from Indonesia).
Considered the biggest responsible tourism award, the Tourism for Tomorrow is organized annually by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
The winners are announced at the end of April, at the WTTC annual summit, which this year will be held on the 26 and 27 April in Bangkok.
For Vinicius Lummertz, president of the Brazilian Tourism Board (Embratur), the nomination confirms that Brazil is already seen as a strong hub by the world in the green tourism sector, and is in line with sustainable actions adopted by big global companies.
“In addition to minimising negative environmental and socio-cultural impacts, responsible consumption of tourist services leads to economic benefits to local communities and those in the surrounding areas of such destinations, as is the case with the Caiman Ecological Refuge”, pointed out Lummertz.
Brazil was also represented in the 2014 edition of the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. Bonito (state of Mato Grosso do Sul) was a finalist in the Destination category, finishing second behind Costa Navarino (Greece).
Source: BrazilGovnews