(The award ceremony presented annually at ITB Berlin celebrates the most inspirational stories of sustainable tourism practices from destinations featured in the Green Destinations Top 100 list)
BY TTT NEWS NETWORK
KOLKATA, 10 MARCH 2023:
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has congratulated Huay Pu Keng’s community-based tourism practice and Ko Mak’s low-carbon destination effort for having won The Green Destinations Story Awards at ITB Berlin 2023.
Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor, said “These two award-wining stories underscore Thailand’s direction towards more sustainable and more responsible tourism, the offering of meaningful tourism experiences to tourists, and the government’s Bio-Circular-Green or BCG Economy Model. TAT would like to congratulate Fair Tourism and DASTA in their initiatives for sustainable tourism development. Our sincere appreciation also goes to the local people of both destinations for doing their part as a responsible host.”
Organised annually at ITB Berlin, the Green Destinations Story Awards showcase and celebrate the most inspirational initiatives for sustainable tourism development from stories submitted to the annual Green Destinations Top 100 Stories competition.
Huay Pu Keng – Thailand
The story on Huay Pu Keng, entitled ‘Discovering the first and only Karenni village in Thailand that made the transition towards community-based tourism’, was awarded the 1st place in the category of Thriving Communities. The story was submitted by Fair Tourism Foundation.
The story presented how the implementation of capacity-building training or CBT has paved the way for Huay Pu Keng village in Mae Hong Son province to become the first Karenni village in Thailand that has successfully transitioned towards sustainable tourism. Tourists can take part in crafts-making workshops and learn more about local talents and skills, as well as getting to know the story of the people behind the rings. This creates meaningful experience for both the tourists and the villagers.
(Charlotte Louwman-Vogels, Founder & Director, Fair Tourism Foundation, accepted the award.)
(Ko Mak)
Ko Mak – Thailand
The story on Ko Mak, entitled ‘The Journey to become the first low carbon destination in Thailand’, won the 2nd place in the category of Governance, Reset & Recovery. The story was submitted by the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA).
The story showcased how Ko Mak in Trat province has been making great efforts to become the first ‘Low-Carbon Destination’ in Thailand. Over around 10 years, several environmentally friendly activities have been pushed on the island, together with the use of digital technologies, advanced research in carbon sequestration, and the production of supporting equipment from recyclable sources. This includes the ‘Ko Mak Low Carbon Calculator’ online tool (www.kohmaklowcarbon.com).
Helping to spread the word about the good work being done on Ko Mak, TAT launched the “Laughing Island Conqueror vs Low-carbon Footprint Traveller” initiative in 2022 to encourage tourists to partake in responsible tourism through activities that reduced their carbon footprint.
(Cp. Capt. Athikun Kongmee, Director of DASTA accepted the award)
The “Laughing Island Conqueror vs Low-carbon Footprint Traveller” initiative has also been recognised internationally, with the TAT Frankfurt Office named among the three winners of the Corps Touristique (CT) Award for International Understanding – Crossing Borders at CMT 2023 at Messe Stuttgart. The awards by CT – the association of foreign tourist offices in Germany – honour projects of international understanding, and the TAT’s initiative was honoured for promoting intercultural exchange between residents and visitors on Ko Mak.
“TAT is committed to helping to promote sustainable tourism communities and destinations throughout Thailand. We have has recently added a new category of “Low Carbon and Sustainability” in the 14th Thailand Tourism Awards, the country’s most prestigious awards that recognise quality and excellence in tourism and hospitality operations with an aim to elevate the country’s tourism standard towards high value and sustainability,” Mr. Yuthasak concluded.
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