| Planeta.com
- Voting is open for the 2009 Ecotourism Spotlight Award.
Nominees for this year's award include Quito
Visitors' Bureau, Responsible
Tourism Guide to the Mekong, Ecotourism
Laos and Failte
Ireland and Mexico's
National Commission of Natural Protected Areas.
2009 SNAPSHOT
Contenders have made the most of the Web in 2009 to engage
locals and visitors. Examples of best practices include Failte Ireland's
ecotourism handbook for all 16,000 Irish tourism businesses and
Quito's documentation of eco activities including weekend bike rides.
Web 2.0 tools are showcased on the Mekong site and multi-lingual
information is showcased on the Mexico parks website. Two-time Ecotourism
Spotlight Award winner Ecotourism Laos has been revising its site
and shows how any good website is regularly updated to maintain
its effectiveness.
"In 2009 we have more contenders than ever before," said
Planeta.com founder Ron Mader and director of the Ecotourism Spotlight
Award. "The spotlight award shines attention on best practices
and these nominees offer great examples for other government websites."
ABOUT THE AWARD
Government websites that educate visitors about ecotourism and
responsible travel options are eligible to win Planeta.com's third
annual Ecotourism
Spotlight Award. Complete details are online the Planeta
Wiki.
The winner is announced in celebration of World
Tourism Day (September 27) as way of spotlighting best practice
in responsible travel and ecotourism. The award was developed to
create incentives for communication,
opportunities for conversation
and a reward for participation
among government leaders working toward ecotourism and responsible
travel.
"Nominees are asked to review each other's websites. "Connect
with each other," advises Mader. "While this is a competition,
we also encourage collaboration. Learning from other leaders makes
sense. All of these nominees are winners."
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