Nat Geo awards partner with ITB

WASHINGTON The World Legacy Awards call for entries was announced Thursday, by National Geographic and partner ITB Berlin.

Applications are being accepted through to 20 August at nationalgeographic.com/worldlegacyawards.

Celebrating National Geographic’s mission of inspiring people to care about the planet, the World Legacy Awards honour today’s leading sustainable tourism destinations, organisations and businesses, and share their stories with travellers around the world.

Airline, hotels, tourism companies, organisations or destinations are eligible to apply for the awards in one of five categories.

The World Legacy Awards are a collaboration between two giants in the world of travel: National Geographic and ITB Berlin.

They reach National Geographic’s global audience, worldwide, each month through its media platforms, products and events.

ITB Berlin is the largest travel gathering, attended annually by nearly 200,000 delegates and, for the third year, will host the 2017 awards ceremony.

In addition to being recognised at ITB Berlin during March 2017 awards ceremony, winners and finalists of the World Legacy Awards will be featured in National Geographic’s global media platforms.

“For many companies, campaigning for sustainable tourism has become an indispensable part of their work,” said, Messe Berlin CEO Christian Goeke. “By presenting the World Legacy Awards, together with National Geographic, we wish to underline how important social responsibility and protecting nature and wildlife are in today’s tourism industry.”

Applications are being accepted in five categories:

Earth Changers — Recognising cutting-edge leadership in environmentally friendly business practices.

Sense of Place — Recognising excellence in enhancing sense of place and authenticity, including using vernacular architecture and design.

Conserving the Natural World — Recognising outstanding support for the preservation of nature, restoring natural habitat and protecting rare and endangered species.

Engaging Communities — Recognising direct and tangible economic and social benefits that improve local livelihoods.

Destination Leadership — Recognising destination leadership, including cities, provinces, states, countries and regions that are demonstrating environmental best practices.

Finalists will be announced by National Geographic in December and the winners will be announced in March 2017 at ITB Berlin during a special awards ceremony and also participate in related events.

sourced:ttrweekly.com