The 2009 Skål International Ecotourism Awards sets date for November

This year’s awards highlight best practices in tourism around the world for 2009, with emphasis on the importance of the interaction of the physical, cultural, and social environment the traveler’s responsibility and the need for active community participation for ecotourism.

As an affiliate member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Skål’s mission is to promote the development of responsible, sustainable, and universally-accessible tourism. Currently, the organization covers all sectors of the tourism industry, from hoteliers to travel agents, to airlines, tourism media, tourism students, and similar travel persons.

Founded as an international association in 1934, Skål is the largest organization of travel and tourism professionals in the world, with 22,000 members, is active in 90 countries and in almost 500 locations worldwide.

Following the United Nations declaration of 2002 as the “Year of Ecotourism and the Mountains,” Skål launched the Ecotourism Awards in the same year, with the first awards presented at the World Congress in Cairns in 2002.

Skål is a powerful force in the travel and tourism industry to initiate change and encourage the conservation of the environment in order to promote tourism and travel. The organization values sustainable development in tourism as the key to the industry’s future success. It believes that ecotourism is just one area of the various components of sustainable development.

The 8th Skål International Ecotourism Awards will be presented during the 70th Skål World Congress to be held in Budapest, Hungary on Monday, November 2, 2009. The deadline for receipt of entries at the General Secretariat is June 30, 2009.

For more info, check out  www.skal.org or contact:

Skål International
General Secretariat
Edificio España
Avenida Palma de Mallorca 15-1º
29620 Torremolinos – SPAIN
Tel: +34 952 38 9111
Email: skal@skal.org