Meet the Finalists: World Responsible Tourism Awards 2016

As many of us recover from a busy Halloween, the travel industry is gathering at the annual World Travel Market in London, a meeting and sales venue that influences where tour operators and media will send clients in the year ahead.

Since there's a global gathering of travel industry represented at WTM, it's also the time when a lot of other organizations present studies, innovations, and awards to garner the attention of the assembled.

Today, Responsible Travel has announced the 13 finalists in the 2016 World Responsible Tourism Awards, sponsored by Belize, with a strong focus on innovation.

We know you'll be interested in learning a bit about all the of them, and how they rose to these achievements. 

This video from their 2013 ceremony gives you a good sense of what these companies have accomplished in their work.

Innovation has Fueled Responsibility

Included among a particularly innovative list this year, according to their press release, is one of India’s largest hotel chains making the employment of people with disabilities and socially excluded groups a core part of its business model; an tour operator democratizing tourism by pioneering the ‘Buy one, Give one’ concept in travel; one of the world’s most iconic hotels with a successful program to rescue, rehabilitate and re-release adult sea turtles; and a tourism business offering migrant-led city tours to foster greater understanding between locals, tourists and migrant groups.

The 13 finalists will await the awards ceremony Tuesday, November 8th -- the tenth anniversary of World Responsible Tourism Day -- to discover who will be crowned the 2016 overall winner.

Justin Francis, founder of the World Responsible Tourism Awards and CEO of Responsible Travel, praised the progress made in the industry towards responsible travel. “In the early years of the Awards we saw the same people coming back year on year - now every judging day we have things we don’t know about, in sectors of the tourism industry we haven’t seen before, in places we haven’t seen before.

“This year we have seen levels of innovation that have surpassed our expectations, led by some truly entrepreneurial businesses. These are organisations which are using tourism as a counter to contemporary social problems, or translating ideas from other social businesses into the travel sector - they are pushing the boundaries of what responsible business can achieve”.

The full list of World Responsible Tourism Award 2016 finalists:

• !Xaus Lodge, South Africa
• Burj Al Arab Aquarium, United Arab Emirates
• Bushman’s Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Wellness Resort, South Africa
• East African Safari & Touring Company, Tanzania
• Elevate Destinations, USA
• Friends International – Childsafe Movement, Cambodia
• Lemon Tree Hotels, India
• Misool Eco Resort, Indonesia
• Sam Veasna Centre, Cambodia
• Sapa O’Chau, Vietnam
• Tren Ecuador, Ecuador
• Viaggi Solidali, Italy
• World Cetacean Alliance

We hope you'll check out their efforts, their goals and their accomplishments, and consider traveling with them for your next family adventure.

Go Play! Free Entrance to all National Parks September 27, 2014

This Saturday, September 27, celebrate National Public Lands Day by heading to a national park to play, learn, serve, or work.

The 21^st annual event will feature free admission to every National Park Service site, as well as special activities and volunteer work projects at 60 national parks across the country in honor of National Public Lands Day. So count on making this one of your first fall trips, one on which you can do good and do well at the same time.

Make it a weekend and spend a day apple picking too.

Celebrate our National Parks and Historic Sites

Many parks will host special ranger programs and events, including a star party at Craters of the Moon National Memorial and Preserve, a Fall Fiesta at Bandelier National Monument, the Peanut Festival at Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, a wilderness fair at Joshua Tree National Park, the Mountain Festival at City of Rocks, and Music and Art in the Mountains at Blue Ridge Parkway.

Give Back to our National Parks

Last year, about 175,000 volunteers worked at 2,237 sites in every state, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.  Every volunteer will receive a free pass for a future visit to a national park. Projects suited to almost any age or skill level include leading weed-eating goats around the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site, restoring wetlands at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, cleaning the beach at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and rehabilitating a campground at Prince William Forest Park.

Maple trees will reach their peak of coloration in late September in the northeast and mid Atlantic states.

Guide to Family Volunteer Opportunities at National Parks and Historic Sites

Here's a state-by-state guide of national parks that will host volunteer projects on National Public Lands Day, Saturday, September 27. Visit NPLD.org for more information:

Alabama: Little River Canyon National Preserve, Russell Cave National Monument

Alaska: Sitka National Historical Park

Arizona: Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Saguaro National Park

Arkansas: Arkansas Post National Memorial

California: Channel Islands National Park, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, John Muir National Historic Site, Lava Beds National Monument, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Yosemite National Park

Colorado: Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Connecticut: Weir Farm National Historic Site

Delaware: First State National Monument

Washington, DC: National Capital Parks- East, National Mall and Memorial Parks

Florida: Everglades National Park, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Georgia; Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site

Hawaii: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Indiana: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Maryland: C&O Canal National Historical Park, Monocacy National Battlefield

Massachusetts: Minute Man National Historical Park

Michigan: Keweenaw National Historical Park, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Minnesota: Pipestone National Monument

Mississippi: Vicksburg National Military Park

Missouri: George Washington Carver National Monument

Nebraska: Homestead National Monument of America

Nevada: Lake Mead National Recreation Area

New Hampshire: Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site

New Jersey: Patterson Great Falls National Monument

New York: Gateway National Recreation Area

North Carolina: Cape Lookout National Seashore, Carl Sandburg National Historic Site

Ohio: James A. Garfield National Historic Site, William Howard Taft National Historic Site

Oklahoma: Chickasaw National Recreation Area

Oregon: Oregon Caves National Monument

Pennsylvania: Valley Forge National Historical Park

Puerto Rico: San Juan National Historic Site

South Dakota: Jewell Cave National Monument, Wind Cave National Park

Tennessee: Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Shiloh National Military Park

Texas: Big Bend National Park, Padre Island National Seashore

Utah: Arches National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Zion National Park

Virginia: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Prince William Forest Park, Shenandoah National Park, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts,

Washington: Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Mount Rainier National Park, San Juan Island National Historical Park

Wyoming: Devils Tower National Monument, Yellowstone National Park

Volunteers Needed in School Rebuilding Project: Philippines

We just received notice that the respected volunteer organization, Projects Abroad, is setting up Disaster Relief projects to help survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. We know this will be of interest to the many families looking for volunteer vacations for the fall and winter breaks.

Projects Abroad, with operations in over 25 destinations, more than 500 trained staff and volunteer experience since 1992, is using their staff already working on teaching and medical care projects in the Philippines to direct resources, efforts and volunteers to help in typhoon relief work through a special Disaster Relief project.

According to the press statement, Projects Abroad's Disaster Relief project will focus on areas in the northern part of Cebu Island close to the typhoon's path, including Bogo City, Tabogan, and San Remigio, all of which have been affected by the typhoon.

The main objectives of the Disaster Relief project are to bring educational facilities that have been affected by the typhoon back to working order as soon as possible. Projects Abroad's volunteers will look after local children while their parents help with the clean-up efforts.

Their staff notes that it may take several weeks for schools and other care centers for children to receive government help while infrastructure is being repaired. Projects Abroad volunteers will help to bridge this through repair and renovation work at schools and childcare centers and by helping to care for children.

Volunteers can join the Disaster Relief project in the Philippines anytime and stay as long as they can, for a minimum of at least two weeks. Work will start as soon as possible and be ongoing for at least several months. It is preferable to plan to arrive on a weekend so volunteers can start working in teams Monday mornings.

All volunteers will be accommodated with secure and undamaged host families and be supported by full-time local Projects Abroad staff.

For more information on how you can get involved, contact Projects Abroad or visit www.projects-abroad.org/volunteer-destinations/volunteer-philippines

About Projects Abroad

Projects Abroad was founded in 1992 by Dr. Peter Slowe, a geography professor, as a program for students to travel and work while on break from full-time study. The program had its genesis in post-USSR Romania, where students were given the chance to teach conversational English. After a few years just sending volunteers to Eastern Europe for teaching, the company expanded to sending volunteers of all ages around the world on a wide range of projects.

Projects Abroad is a global leader in short-term international volunteer programs with projects in 28 countries and recruitment offices in the UK, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Holland, Hong Kong, Norway, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and the United States.