By Ian Hall

Wild Asia has announced the finalists for the 5th Responsible Tourism Awards 2010! We shortlisted several operators from across Asia in each category for their outstanding responsible tourism practices. Arkitrek’s Ian Hall is a judge for the awards and has also helped to refine the checklists and questionaires that are our tools for identifying best practice.

The shortlisted hotels and tour operators were reviewed and extensively researched by our judging panel which comprised of responsible tourism (RT) experts, academics, conservationists, and eco-consultants. Wild Asia’s judging panel first examined all of the completed checklists submitted by the operators, which outlined their best management practices and specific RT efforts undertaken by them. Then, through a scoring system, the panel analyzed and ranked each answer from the advanced entry forms in order to determine the finalists.

Between the months of August and September, a team of fact finders and media from Wild Asia will conduct site visits to verify the submitted self-assessment checklists and photo-document unique best practices.

Winners will be announced on 21 October 2010, during the Responsible Tourism Awards ceremony held in conjunction with the ITB Asia Trade Show in Singapore, which runs from 20 – 22 October 2010.

To find out this year’s finalists go to the Wild Asia website!