BELIZE: The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (The Alliance) has partnered with the World Travel Awards for the inaugural World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards (WSTHA), in Belize this September.
WSTHA is the sister programme of the World Travel Awards, which launched in 1993 to recognise and reward excellence in travel.
The World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards will feature up to 30 award categories covering the broad spectrum of the travel and tourism economy, from community initiatives and eco hotels to food sourcing and clean water.
The Alliance will also serve as a member of the Advisory Board for the WSTHA with CEO of The Alliance, Glenn Mandziuk taking on the role of vice-chair .
The panel comprises of leading authorities, academics and dignitaries in driving net positive hospitality and will steer and govern the WSTHA programme to reflect the travel and hospitality ecosystem, including guiding on best practice, standards and the award category list.
Other members of the Advisory Board include Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism, Belize; Chris Imbsen, director of sustainability, World Travel & Tourism Council; Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer, Virgin Atlantic; Patricio Azcárate Díaz de Losada, general secretary, Responsible Tourism Institute; Fran Brasseux, executive director, International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education; and Susan Hooper, chair, Carbon Gap.
Mandziuk said: “The new programme will undoubtedly highlight the hospitality industry’s expertise and collective efforts towards achieving Net Positive. It’s an honour to join the Board, and I eagerly anticipate collaborating with these sustainability experts and leaders as we make a significant impact on capturing the best-in-class examples of sustainability progress within our industry.”
Justin Cooke, executive vice-president, World Travel Awards said: “WSTHA is delighted to welcome such high calibre experts to our Advisory Board. Our new team will play a fundamental role in steering our programme, with the goal of raising the bar for sustainable best practice and leading the net positive future of our industry.”
Earlier this year The Alliance and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council joined forces to consolidate best practice across the industry.
Partnership formed for best practice in sustainable hospitality tourism
Image : L-R: Justin Cooke, executive vice-president, World Travel Awards, Glenn Mandziuk, CEO, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Gale Malic-Ozaeta, marketing and communications manager Belize Tourism Board, Patricio Azcárate Díaz de Losada, general secretary, Responsible Tourism Institute.