Text and photos by Ian Hall “Don’t let tourism become the boss” advised John King of Global Tourism and Leisure, Australia. King was speaking in a forum at the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference in Pokhara, Nepal. The subject of this particular forum was ‘Indigenous Tourism’ and it sparked a lively debate. I’ve noticed a similar trend at Wild Asia’s Responsible Tourism Award forums in recent years where Community Based Tourism seems to arouse the most emotion. Much community based tourism...

Last week Wild Asia announced the winners of the 2009 Responsible Tourism Awards. The Awards are an opportunity to verify some of the claims being made by accommodation operators and to share and promote their best ideas. Of this year’s winners, the large hotel category was won by ITC Muhgal India who were particularly impressive with the degree to which they had internalised their RT effort over some ten years of operation. The medium sized category was taken by El Nido Resorts of the Philippines. Pipped to the post...