WTM Latin America Presents the 2023 Responsible Tourism Awards

The organizers of WTM Latin America presented the Responsible Tourism Awards 2023 on Tuesday, April 4. The stage chosen for the ceremony was the Explore Transformation Theater, where the winners received the Gold, Silver and One to Watch awards. 

In the "Best Solutions for Plastic Waste Management" category, the Gold Award winner was Raízes Desenvolvimento Sustentável from Brazil, while the Silver Award went to Wilderness Patagonia from Argentina.

In the "Best Significant Connections" category, the winners were La Moya, Centro de Turismo Comunitario of Ecuador and Sebrae Maranhão of Brazil (Gold), while the Silver Award went to Quinti Ecuador and IPE of Brazil.

In the category "Best Local Purchasing, Handicrafts and Food Models", the golden metal went to the Government of Antioquia (Colombia), while the Silver Award went to Rota do Enxaimel of Brazil. 

Say Hueque of Argentina won the Gold Award in the area of climate change management. Brazil's Mato Grosso do Sul Tourism Foundation won the silver metal.

One of the most eagerly awaited awards was in the category of "Best Solutions for the Promotion of Diversity and Inclusion", the clear winners were La Unión Coffee Farm from Colombia and Red BATUC - Turismo Comunitário da Bahia (Brazil), as well as a well-deserved Silver Award for Diaspora.Black, also from Brazil.

"Best Initiatives for Nature Conservation" was a category that had as main winners Las Torres Patagonia from Chile and Toca do Kainã from Brazil (Gold). Wilderness Patagonia of Argentina 

The awards are part of WTM's Global Responsible Tourism Awards and are now in their third edition in Latin America with the purpose of publicly recognizing the most inspiring and replicable initiatives in sustainable and responsible tourism, with the main objective of promoting positive changes throughout the travel and tourism industry.

In addition to the recognition for their initiatives, the finalists benefit in terms of reputation and learning, as they elevate their business to another level and also have the feedback of experts, in addition to having access to the main trends in the segment. 

The 66 entries for this year's edition come from various Latin American countries and were first evaluated by the 18 professionals who make up the jury of the third edition of the WTM Latin America Responsible Tourism Award.

Made up of renowned Latin American professionals from different areas -travel agents, tour operators, association leaders, government representatives, journalists and opinion makers- the panel of judges takes into account several aspects to choose the finalists and, subsequently, the winners in six different categories. The main criteria are originality, replicability potential and measurability of the impacts achieved with the proposed solution.

"The evolution in the quality of the candidates for this award is notorious. From the number of candidates to the data presented, which shows that the Latin American tourism trade is becoming increasingly responsible for the impacts it has on destinations and communities and contributing to the sustainable development of our sector. The 15 finalist works we have here are original and replicable. We are proud to be able to shine a light on such inspiring cases," says Gustavo Pinto, WTM Latin America advisor and coordinator of the Award.