The winners of the LATA Responsible Tourism Awards were also announced during the LATA Expo Gala Dinner last night. These form the Latin American element of the Sabre Global Responsible Tourism Awards, with the winners automatically entered into the global awards to be announced in November.
Megan Parkinson, head of sustainability at LATA says “Following the success of our Sustainability Travel Programme, introduced for our members in 2022, I am thrilled to be working alongside Dr Goodwin to host the Latin American element of the Sabre Global Responsible Tourism Awards. I’m pleased to see so many of LATA’s members being recognised for their achievements and dedication to working towards a more sustainable tourism industry.
The awards were overseen by Dr Harold Goodwin, co-founder of The Responsible Tourism Partnership and judged by Anne-Kathrin Zschiegner, Director of The Long Run, Chris Haslam, Chief Travel Writer at The Sunday Times, Edgar Weggelaar, CEO of Queer Destinations, Maria Emilia Correl, Co-Founder & Senior Strategist at Sistema B, and Megan Parkinson, Head of Sustainability at LATA.
Dr Goodwin commented “The quality of entries has really stood out to me this year, which is testament to the hard work being done across Latin America to ensure that tourism is done in a responsible way, enabling the benefits to be felt throughout the supply chain.”
With the winners split between UK-based operators, and those based across Latin America, it was a privilege to announce the winners and recognise their successes to a full house of industry professionals.
Employing and Upskilling Local Communities
Gold – Latin Trails
The judges were impressed with Latin Trails’ community project, which works with 40 families to give additional income sources by providing gastronomy, artisan, music and awareness experiences to their guests. They are also working with an upmarket restaurant to provide training for young culinary talent from rural communities in Ecuador’s poorest areas, offering full board and a full scholarship.
Further details on the winners of the LATA Responsible Tourism Awards can be seen here
