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| Sofitel Sydney Wentworth General Manager Marc Cherrier (left) with members of the Accor hotels team and the Tourism For Tomorrow Award |
After a long journey across the globe, the World Travel & Tourism Council's (WTTC)'Tourism For Tomorrow' award – presented to Accor on the 27th May at the 10th Global Travel & Tourism Summit held in Beijing – arrived in Australia this week, before its onward journey to Switzerland.
The award officially 'checked in' for a brief stay at the group's flagship hotel, the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth as part of a whistlestop world tour initiated by Accor and WTTC to showcase the prestigious award on an international scale and promote responsible tourism practices.
Accor was awarded the Tourism for Tomorrow award for demonstrating effective, environmentally sensitive operations and management, educating guests and employees about sustainable tourism practices, supporting cultural and natural heritage preservation, and collaborating with other private and public stakeholders to promote best practices in sustainable tourism.
The group won in the highly competitive Global Tourism Business Award category for spearheading sustainable tourism projects across its network of more than 4,000 hotels and diverse portfolio of brands which include Sofitel Luxury Hotels, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, All Seasons, Ibis and Formule 1.
Sofitel Sydney Wentworth General Manager Marc Cherrier says, "After its incredible journey from Asia, we are very excited to welcome the award to Australia for display before its onward trip to Europe.
"The idea of course is to share the accolade not only with our own staff but to all of our industry partners and associates who have been very supportive and encouraging of our sustainable tourism initiatives in recent times.
"As a group we are immensely proud of the commitment that Accor, its hotel brands and people have demonstrated in regards to sustainable tourism and practices. This visit provides a perfect opportunity to highlight Accor's outstanding efforts as a group in regards to pioneering responsible and progressive initiatives in this area."
The award has been on display at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth's Club Lounge while in transit from Beijing to Switzerland.
"For years, WTTC's Tourism for Tomorrow Awards have recognized achievements in responsible and sustainable tourism and profiled best practices that the industry can learn from," said Jean-Claude Baumgarten, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Committee. "Independently judged from hundreds of applications, four awards are presented every year at WTTC's Global Travel & Tourism Summit to organizations that lead the way in helping to secure a sustainable future for travel and Tourism around the world."
Prior to awarding Accor the award, WTTC judges evaluated the depth of Accor's commitment both in terms of social and environmental sustainability initiatives tested the level of awareness among employees and verified that action plans are widely shared across the Group and adapted to local situations.
"Many global companies focus more on their environmental ambitions when it comes to sustainability, but Accor has surpassed this with a number of environmental and social sustainability initiatives," said Costas Christ, who chaired the panel of judges for the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. "Its Earth Guest program plays a truly global role in minimizing the environmental impact of Accor's operations. It also helps to share best environmental practices through effective tracking, with data that can be accessed by any hotel at any time."
The judges were also very impressed with Accor's strong social outreach, including its willingness to address fundamental global health issues like HIV/AIDS prevention and to Lead the fight against illegal exploitation of children for sex in certain tourist destinations.
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