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World Green Tourism Abu Dhabi – the three-day exhibition and conference dedicated to sustainability within the tourism sector which ended its inaugural run at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre today – will feature an industry recognition scheme as part of its 2011 showing.
The Middle East Green Tourism Award will recognised the individual, company, organisation or destination deemed to have contributed most significantly to the development and management of more responsible and sustainable tourism.
“This initiative is aimed at further spurring take up of green tourism within the region,” said Rick Theobald, Event Director, Streamline Marketing Group (SMG), which organises the event with the support of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).
The award winner will be decided by a panel of independent industry experts and nominations will be accepted from next month on the event’s website – www.worldgreentourism.com. The voting panel will be chaired by Professor Geoffrey Lipman, Assistant Secretary General, United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), known for his participation in international travel and tourism economic summits as both speaker and moderator.
“Geoffrey is also recognised for his radical thinking on strategic and tactical policymaking, his commitment to the travel and tourism sector as an instrument of positive socio-economic development, as well as his passion for sustainable development and the green economy and therefore makes an apt chairperson for the judging panel,” added Theobald.
“We anticipate strong interest in this award which will be presented during the World Green Tourism Abu Dhabi 2011 which will run from December 5-7.”
World Green Tourism Abu Dhabi, the first-of-its-kind event in the Arabian Gulf, has been attended in its inaugural year by over 1,373 unique visitors and delegates of industry professionals, including over 150 students who attended the closing day sessions.
The event is the debut meetings industry initiative to emerge from ADTA’s Advantage Abu Dhabi incentive programme, which catalyses and seeds new business tourism and meetings concepts. The event reflects the core values of the Abu Dhabi Government’s 2030 plan, which clearly identifies tourism as a key economic diversification driver, and environmental sustainability as an underlying fundamental of the emirate.
The event is co-hosted by the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, and boasts over 50 speakers including international sustainability pioneers, tourism ministers and heads of tourism bodies, and UN representatives. It is a forum for key industry leaders and associations to discuss the environmental challenges facing the tourism industry, highlighting ‘green’ initiatives, technologies and solutions currently being integrated into mainstream industry practices.
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