The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (The Alliance) and World Travel Awards have joined forces to create the World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards.
Announced at FITUR in Madrid, the collaboration aims to introduce a transparent and high integrity awards submission process for the inaugural World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards (WSTHA), to be held in Belize on 27 September 2024.
In addition to this partnership, the World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards (WSTHA) has unveiled its Advisory Board. Comprising authorities, academics and dignitaries dedicated to promoting positive hospitality, the board will play a key role in guiding and managing the WSTHA programme. This includes defining best practice, standards and the various categories of awards to be presented at the ceremony.
Glenn Mandziuk, CEO of The Alliance, will act as Vice-Chair of the Advisory Board and will work with leading figures from the sustainable tourism sector. The board will play a key role in guiding the WSTHA programme to reflect the complexities of the travel and hospitality ecosystem, ensuring a holistic approach to recognising excellence.
Advisory board members include Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism for Belize; Chris Imbsen, Director of Sustainability at the World Travel & Tourism Council; Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer of Virgin Atlantic; Patricio Azcárate Díaz de Losada, Secretary General of the Responsible Tourism Institute; Fran Brasseux, Executive Director of the International Council of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education; and Susan Hooper, President of Carbon Gap.
The WSTHA will feature up to 30 award categories, recognising contributions in all areas of travel and tourism, from community initiatives and environmentally friendly hotels to food supply and clean water initiatives. The unveiling of the winners will be one of the highlights of the WSTHA 2024 gala ceremony in Belize, which will be attended by leaders and influencers in the field of sustainable tourism.
The Alliance, known for addressing global challenges that affect the planet, people and places, will build on its collaboration with strategic partners to establish a process for collecting and selecting best practices that exemplify net-positive hospitality. The aim of this initiative is to create a repository of case studies that will drive the hotel and restaurant sector forward.
As a sister programme to the World Travel Awards, launched in 1993 to recognise excellence in travel, the WSTHA will also collaborate with other programmes in the WTA family. These include the launch of three sustainability categories in conjunction with the World Cruise Awards, the World Spa Awards and the World Travel Technology Awards.
“As we kick off 2024, we are excited to announce this partnership with World Travel Awards to foster the establishment of the World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards, which strengthens our position and network in leading the industry to Net Positive Hospitality. The new programme will undoubtedly highlight the hospitality industry’s expertise and collective efforts towards achieving Net Positive.” – Glenn Mandziuk, CEO, The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance
“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. We look forward to welcoming them in Belize for the inaugural WSTHA Gala Ceremony on 27 September 2024. As Official Host Destination of WSTHA 2024, Belize holds responsible tourism at its core value systems, and develops projects that encourage travellers to engage with its rainforests, reefs and unique culture in a sustainable manner.” – Justin Cooke, Executive Vice-President, World Travel Awards
“Sustainability and responsible tourism have always been at the core of our value system in Belize. We are excited that Belize will be hosting the inaugural World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards in September 2024, allowing us to highlight our best practices and develop projects while encouraging attendees to engage with our rainforests, Barrier Reef and local communities. We are honoured to be joined by a group of sustainability trailblazers as members on the awards Advisory Board to support Belize and the World Sustainable Travel and Hospitality Awards to be a resounding success.” – Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism, Belize
