The UK-based tour operator, Wilderness Scotland has been hailed World’s Leading Green Tour Operator in the ‘Oscars’ of the travel industry, the World Travel Awards. The announcement was made last night (Sunday 7 December) at a glittering ceremony, held on the island of Anguilla, to mark the Grand Final of the 21st Annual World Travel Awards. In the process, the company fought off competition from seven other nominated tour operators, including Exodus Travels, Tribes Travel and Kuoni. This is not the first time Wilderness Scotland has been successful in these awards: seven years ago the specialist adventure travel company picked up the very same award.
The collection of the tour operator’s unparalleled wilderness experiences, most of them guided, range from unforgettable walking holidays to adrenaline-fuelled sea kayaking trips, and some of the most beautiful cycling routes in Europe. Clients get to discover Scotland’s stunning natural adventure playground such as a canoe tour of Scotland’s Grand Rivers or a mountain bike journey in the beautiful Cairngorms National Park. All Wilderness Scotland’s group holidays start at mainline train stations and they keep the use of motorised vehicles to a minimum.
Commenting on the latest award, Paul Easto, Managing Director, Wilderness Scotland said, “We are a company that takes its commitment to sustainable tourism very seriously. Since we engage with local people and work with local partners, our groups find they always receive a warm welcome wherever we go. Our environmental approach is based upon the familiar mantra of reduction, re-use and recycle, and we place issues such as leave-no-trace awareness and nature conservation high on our agenda. Our trips are purposefully designed to minimise environmental impact and operate on a low carbon basis. We are all about experiencing the wilderness using human power, be that on foot or by bike, kayak, canoe and sailing boat. We keep it local with our charitable support too, providing financial help to a wide range of nature conservation projects in the Highlands of Scotland.” In this video https://vimeo.com/113796257 one of the Wilderness Scotland directors, Myles Farnbank discusses what drives their sustainable approach, and Stuart Brooks, CEO of the John Muir Trust, shares some insight into how adventure travel can work alongside wild land conservation.
The World Travel Awards, established in 1993 to acknowledge and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry, are a prestigious travel scheme nominated by travel professionals and the general public. Last year, over 500,000 individual votes were cast. Each year WTA covers the globe with a series of regional gala ceremonies staged to recognise successes within each key geographical region. In 2014, the Grand Tour saw WTA stage gala ceremonies in the Middle East, Africa and the Indian Ocean, South and Central America, North America and the Caribbean, Asia and Australasia, and Europe. By including the Green Awards, WTA offers the opportunity to showcase their green credentials and ecologically friendly practices. Standard entry fee was waived for the Green awards entrants and sponsorship of the Green awards categories is to be donated to a green charity.
Produced by Rupert Shanks (www.rupertshanks.com) for Wilderness Scotland (www.wildernessscotland.com). Music: Last Song by Clogs (www.clogsmusic.com).