Planeta.com - Votes for the 2009 Ecotourism Spotlight Award have been counted the winner of the 2009 Ecotourism Spotlight Award: for the third year in a row, the winner is Ecotourism Laos!

Other nominees for this year's award included Quito Visitors' Bureau, Responsible Tourism Guide to the Mekong and Failte Ireland.

The nomination of Mexico's National Commission of Natural Protected Areas was withdrawn when the website ceased operation in mid August.

2009 SNAPSHOT

It takes some time for awards to be recognized among likely candidates and the interested public. Competition was strongest this year as many government sites have spent considerable time and resources improving their coverage of ecotourism.

Best practices include Failte Ireland's Ecotourism Handbook distribution to all 16,000 Irish tourism businesses and Quito's documentation of eco activities include eco bike rides. Web 2.0 is showcased on the Mekong guide. Ecotourism Laos has been revising its site and shows how any good website must be regularly updated to maintain its effectiveness.

ABOUT THE AWARD

Government websites that educate visitors about ecotourism and responsible travel options are eligible to win Planeta.com's third annual Ecotourism Spotlight Award. Complete details are online the Planeta Wiki.

The winner is announced in celebration of World Tourism Day (September 27) as way of spotlighting best practice in responsible travel and ecotourism. The award was developed to create incentives for communication, opportunities for conversation and a reward for participation among government leaders working toward ecotourism and responsible travel.

"Nominees are asked to review each other's websites. "Connect with each other," advises Mader. "While this is a competition, we also encourage collaboration. Learning from other leaders makes sense. All of these nominees are winners."

2010

"If there is interest and support for a fourth year of this award in 2010, we will follow the example of the Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award by convening a popular and a juried award," Mader said.

COMMENTS

The award always makes us analyze the site anew from an ecotourism perspective, and always gives us fresh impetus in our endeavours to cover ecotravel. For that, we're very grateful to enter and to be considered!
- Dominic Hamilton, Quito Visitors' Bureau

REFERENCES

Ecotourism Spotlight Award
Awards Index

PLANETA FORUM

Awards
GUIDELINES

WIKI

Ecotourism Spotlight Wiki
ONLINE WIKI

PLANETA

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