Can you find us a honeymoon with a heart?
Jun 8th, 2009 by Katie
I have an urgent mission for you if you will accept it: to find the greenest or most life-changing honeymoon you can.
If you’re anything like me, I bet the honeymoon brochures have been piling up around your sofa and downtime at work has drifted into honeymoon daydreaming with a little help from your friendly internet search engine.
So now is the time to put all that research into action and make your nomination in the 2009 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards.
The Awards are organized by online travel agent, responsibletravel.com and they’d love your tip-offs of tour operators, hoteliers and destinations around the world that are doing their bit to help people and the planet.
Don’t worry, they don’t expect you to be responsible travel experts, just give them the name and a couple of lines to say why you think the hotel / lodge / tour operator / destination is eco-friendly and/or giving something back to the local community and the Responsible Tourism Awards judging panel will dig deeper (read more about the judging process).
Win a holiday of a lifetime
You can make as many nominations as you want and if it turns out you’ve nominated a winner (winners are announced in November), you could be in with a chance to win a holiday (or honeymoon?!) of a lifetime for you and your loved one.
2008 Award winners Gamewatchers Safaris & Porini Camps are offering a memorable prize safari holiday in Kenya.
The prize includes 7 nights accommodation (1 night Tribe Hotel, 2 nights Amboseli Porini Camp, 2 nights Ol Pejeta Rhino Camp, 2 Nights Mara Porini Camp) and return economy flights from Heathrow to Nairobi.
Read more about this amazing holiday.
Nominations needed
The Responsible Tourism Awards team is particularly keen to get nominations in these categories:
- Best in a Marine Environment – An organisation related to a beach or other marine environment, such as turtle conservation or a marine eco-tourism trip
- Best for Conservation of Cultural Heritage – A tourism organisation or initiative working to protect and promote cultural heritage
- Best Large Hotel – A hotel, lodge or other accommodation of more than 50 rooms that is run with the environment and needs of local people in mind.
- Best Personal Contribution – A person who has made an outstanding contribution to responsible tourism.
But hurry – the deadline for nominations is next Monday 15 June! Make your nomination.
Award-winning honeymoons
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elegy online download To give you an idea of the kind of holiday that wins an Award and why, let’s have a look at some of last year’s honeymoon-friendly winners…
Kingfisher Bay Resort, Fraser Island, Australia
This breathtaking resort won the Best Large Hotel Award in the 2008 Responsible Tourism Awards and was commended for its low environmental impact, educating its guests about conservation, and getting involved with the local, indigenous people helping them to share their culture and learn new skills for employment.
Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique
A stunning lodge on the shores of Lake Niassa, it’s the perfect honeymoon spot: beauty, tranquility, crystal clear fresh water, white beaches and a welcome feeling of remoteness – there are no cars and the only access is by boat. The lodge is very private with only 7 chalets all uniquely designed to blend in with the local environment.
The lodge won the Best Small Hotel Award in the 2008 Responsible Tourism Awards. Not only is it environmentally-friendly in design but those behind it also played a key role in the creation of the Umoji Association which represents 20,000 local people through their chiefs and elected representatives. As one of the first large community associations in Mozambique, it has helped six communities to secure their land rights certificates from the Government.
Ecoventura, Ecuador
Winner of the Best in a Marine Environment Award in 2008, Ecoventura will take you around the awe-inspiring Galapagos Islands while taking every precaution to protect this delicate environment.
Ecoventura won its Award for creating scholarships for education, and developing micro-business for local women, converting a fishing boat into a restaurant and boutique to offer alternative livelihoods for the wives of fishermen. Ecoventura was also among the first cruise operators to be independently environmentally audited.
Shigar Fort – Palace Restoration Project, Pakistan
This beautiful fort won the Best for Conservation of Cultural Heritage Award in the 2008 Responsible Tourism Awards. It would make a unique and relaxing honeymoon haven for a couple who want to get off the beaten track.
The project was commended by the judges for the sensitive restoration of this historic building and its development as a hotel which has placed the property once again at the heart of the community.
It is now a cultural and economic asset which brings employment, microenterprise opportunities, and social and cultural empowerment to local men and women.
Inspired? Get nominating now – deadline Monday 15 June!
Want the latest on the Responsible Tourism Awards? Follow them on Twitter.
Katie
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