EXPLORING ECOTOURISM

Ecotourism Spotlight Award

SPOTLIGHT AWARD WIKI

If you live every day of your life as if you are on a wonderful journey through an endlessly fascinating, strange land -- you are.
- Travel Notebook

SLIDESHARE: Ecotourism Spotlight Award

Due to the lack of nominees, Planeta.com is postponing the 2010 Ecotourism Spotlight Award.

ABOUT THE AWARD

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.

Who can apply? Nominees include environmental, tourism and other government portals in three categories: local, national and international institutions. We also consider private-public partnerships -- websites funded by governments.

"Many tourism officials are figuring out basic Web sites as locals and visitors are seeking out the Web 2.0 experience," said Planeta.com founder Ron Mader. "The spotlight award helps nudge government leaders forward as we give credit to the websites that are leading the pack."

The origin of the award goes back to the 2006 Communication and Sustainable Tourism E-Conference (2006) in which Ron Mader proposed "there could be an award for National Tourism Boards websites that illustrate a country's sustainable tourism practices. National tourism portals could be rated not only by what they have online, but also by how they participate in independent groups (ECOCLUB, green-travel, and Planeta) and whether or not they link to independent sites, including blogs (internet logbooks) and Flickr galleries."

The Ecotourism Spotlight Award debuted in 2007 and the winner in 2007, 2008 and 2009 has been Ecotourism Laos. The winner was announced in celebration of World Tourism Day (September 27) as way of spotlighting good practices.

TESTIMONIALS

Comments from the voters:

The site focuses on the importance of including local communities and ethnic groups.

I liked the dos and don'ts!

This site makes it very easy to do research on ecotourism in Laos.

This site stresses the cultural diversity of the country and how travelers can visit in a responsible manner.

KUDOS

Thanks in to everyone for assistance in developing the award. Special kudos to Green-travel, TIES and Ecotropical Resort.

Q&A: ECOTOURISM SPOTLIGHT AWARD

Q - What is the objective of the Ecotourism Spotlight Award?
A - The award creates a much-needed incentive for improved communication from government portals. This award allows us to highlight good practices and hopefully show other managers of government websites how to showcase operations striving toward sustainability and ecotourism. We hope the award is a driving force behind upgrades to government websites and its communication with media and prospective travelers.

Q - Who are this year's nominees?
A - Keep an eye on the wiki.

Q - Who votes?
A - Voting is open to the public with the caveat that individuals vote only once after reviewing the finalists.

Q - What is story behind Planeta.com?
A - Planeta.com is an award-winning water cooler that conducts seminars and features tips for all stakeholders about eco-friendly, people-friendly travel. Our fortee is linking environmental conservation and tourism, particularly the development of ecotourism highlighted in the popular Exploring Ecotourism Resource Guide.

Q - What other awards has Planeta.com created?
A - We created the Colibri Ecotourism Award in 2000 to highlight leaders developing ecotourism in Mexico.. Also, we have collaborated with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity to develop the Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award.

Q - Can I link to the award from my blog/website?
A - Yes! Please add a link to this page and you are welcome to use use the logo.

Q - Why does this award spotlight government websites?
A - There are many tourism awards for individuals, places and operations. That said, there are no awards for government portals. If we want to create incentives for communication from government officials, an award is a sound place to start!

Q - What is the origin of this award?
A - During the 2006 Communication and Sustainable Tourism E-Conference we proposed "there could be an award for National Tourism Boards websites that illustrate a country's sustainable tourism practices. National tourism portals could be rated not only by what they have online, but also by how they participate in independent groups (ECOCLUB, green-travel, and Planeta) and whether or not they link to independent sites, including blogs (internet logbooks) and flickr galleries."