File Further details of the categories

Contributor Herbert Hamele
Country global,
Keywords Awards,
Release date 02/07/2010
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The Most Sustainable/Responsible Award

The award will initially be based on four territorial areas in Europe: Coastal, Urban, Rural, Protected.  As the categories overlap, you will need to select the type of area that best reflects the setting of the proposed entrant.  In each area interested stakeholders can enter places, products or services in the following categories:

1. Most Sustainable/Responsible Carrier
Including all types of transport services in the sub-categories ´rail`, ´road`, ´air` or ´water.`

2. Most Sustainable/Responsible Accommodation
including the sub-categories hotels (1-50 beds, 50 plus beds), bed & breakfast, group accommodation, holiday houses, camping sites or resorts.

3. Most Sustainable/Responsible Visitor Attraction
including the sub-categories “culture” (e.g. museums, monuments), “nature” (e.g. visitor centres, zoos, beaches), “leisure” (e.g. outdoor sport areas, holiday parks).

4. Most Sustainable/Responsible Tour Package
These can be offered by local or international tour operators & travel agents.
5. Most Sustainable/Responsible Destination
The scale here should be either villages, towns, cities or county-level (NUTS  3 or smaller according to European Nomenclature. Please note regions and larger destinations cannot be included for verification purposes. The destination must have a clearly defined principal destination management organization (e.g. local council, partnership, company, etc).

In total there will therefore be 20 categories in the main awards, with their sub-categories.

The Rusty Nail Award

In addition to the “best” awards a "rusty nail award" for destinations or enterprises who are clearly unsustainable will also be given, based on any of the categories.   Entrants for the Rusty Nail Award can be nominated by anyone. However, they will not be published until an entry form is filled in that details the potentially unsustainable/irresponsible candidate and the issue in question.

The entry form will be based on the simple impact assessment form used by the European Commission. (See http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/commission_guidelines/docs/iag_2009_annex_en.pdf The Entry Form should have no more than 10 pages. It should a) present a description and summary of the problematic activity; b) present the analysis of the chain of responsibility; c) list the range of options identified and the options assessed in detail; d) present the main economic, social and environmental impacts. The entry form should use the following format:

1. Problem definition: What is precisely the problem, who is most affected and what intervention is necessary?
2. Analysis of responsibility: Who is legally responsible, and which administrations are involved?
3. Objectives: What are the main objectives the entrant is trying to achieve?
4. Assessment of impacts: What are the main economic, environmental and social impacts, particularly in terms of (quantified/monetised) benefits and costs (including estimates on administrative burden), other compliance costs and implementation costs for public administrations)?
5. Options: Which options have been considered and which have been assessed in detail?
6. Comparison of options: What is the preferred option on the basis of which criteria/justification?
7. Monitoring and evaluation: What follow up arrangements to monitor the actual costs and benefits and a path to sustainability?

The Country Contributing Most to “Peace through Tourism"

To demonstrate that the awards cover the issue of sustainability in depth, a special national award shall be given to ´the country contributing most to peace through tourism". Please read the DestINet peace though tourism section to see the focus of this issue and how it relates to sustainable tourism development. Please note the focus on the achievement of an Olympic Truce in 2012.  This award will be taken to the World Summit on Sustainable Development follow-up in Brazil 2012.

How will the categories be judged?

The categories are designed to cover the key elements of the tourism supply chain. The VESTAS will award tourism businesses and destinations for their exemplary contribution to:

  • maximize social and economic benefits to the local community and minimize negative impacts
  • maximize benefits to cultural heritage and minimize negative impacts
  • maximize benefits to the environment and minimize negative impacts

Entries will be judged by their contribution to the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. A panel of members of  the ECOTRANS European network for sustainable tourism development will assess all entries for authentication.  Those entrants who are authenticated will be profiled on DestiNet, where a minimum of 1000 experts across Europe will be invited to rate the applications, The highest ratings will then be presented to an international jury. The jury will make a final selection of a top three best practice examples based on the poll results.