W@ssup

The EcoWarrior Awards, which celebrate responsible tourism, made a colourful comeback after a two-year hiatus with the 15^th Edition held at the Radisson Blu, Upperhill on October 27.

This year’s theme was ‘Rethinking Tourism: Celebrating Changemakers', seeking to recognise and celebrate exceptionally sustainable and transformative tourism efforts carried out by various tourism industry players despite the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. The awards recognise leading tourism and conservation businesses and individuals who demonstrate an outstanding contribution to sustainable practices in the tourism industry. 

While welcoming guests drawn from the tourism and hospitality sector who turned up elegantly dressed in shades of blue and white with a touch of beads for the dinner gala, Ecotourism Kenya CEO, Edith Alusa noted that the ambition and commitment of the attendees, nominees and winners certainly demonstrate the grounds for sustainable tourism in Kenya.

Speaking to the vision that the awards seek to salute, Ecotourism Chairman, Mr Richard Ndwiga, asserted that they had taken an honest relook at any existing greenwashing and avoidance of possible compliance regulations as well as superficial, and sometimes discriminatory interactions, with host communities to allow sustainable growth of the industry.

“We will continue to recognise eco-friendly support facilities that have been sustainable brand ambassadors, some for over 20 years, for Kenya’s tourism product offering with little incentive. This new vision will culminate in a year-long engagement with the winners with the goal being to encourage them to be visible with their sustainable innovations so as to inspire and challenge other players. Ecotourism Kenya will also involve the winners in various knowledge transfer initiatives to begin showing the possibilities that exist within sustainable tourism and the positive change to an industry that can be hard on environmental and socio-economic dynamics,” he said.

Echoing his sentiments, the evening’s guest of honour, renowned conservationist, Dr Paula Kahumbu noted that while Kenya is a wildlife diverse country, with more antelope species than any other territory, its citizenry needs to do more to conserve this unique heritage.

“We are losing so much wildlife, not only as a result of climate change, but more to degradation of habitat, overgrazing, forest destruction, and extraction of water bodies. As a result, our tourism is a threatened industry,” said Dr Paula, while urging attendees to take the lead in teaching our population the dangers that our wildlife faces.

Dr Kahumbu, who is also CEO of Wildlife Direct, emphasised the value that celebrating our heroes, by embracing home-grown narratives can excite our people and catalyse our industry.

“Covid-19 pandemic allowed us to stop and reconsider our tourism model. Let’s stop looking at past unsustainable models like sport hunting to raise funds and instead seek innovative ways like tapping into the film industry to raise funds. The West has greatly benefitted from our stories and the time is nigh to make Kenya a global powerhouse in wildlife storytelling,” she argued.



Dr Paula who champions wildlife protection and is passionate about matters of climate change, the environment and youth engagement also hinted that her organisation is on course to seal a mega film syndication deal. This comes hot on the heels of the success that Team Sayari project, which allows African children in five African countries to share their understanding of what it means to conserve and protect the natural world, aired on National Geographic Channel.

The EcoWarrior Awards are an annual event founded and hosted by Ecotourism Kenya since 2005 and anchored on the desire to inspire the tourism industry towards responsible practices. The award honours those who benefit the environment and local communities while conducting tourism business ethically and in a sustainably inclusive manner.

Currently, the awards fete industry players within the Kenyan tourism industry. Keeping to its ethos, the award looked at ‘Beyond the Trophy’ with the hope to inspire the adoption of responsible practices in tourism and hospitality operations with the end goal being to have a more sustainable, innovative and inclusive industry in Kenya.

After an evening of good food peppered with constructive conversations on conservation and sustainable tourism, it was time to recognise the winners. Founder of Sustainable Travel & Tourism Agenda Judy Kepher-Gona thanked the ten judges before explaining that the awards were borne out of a consultative, validation process, scoring and auditing deliberately awarded impact. As a result, the stringent cut-off mark of 70 per cent disqualified most entrants leaving only seven categories. The eco-winners of 2020 therefore were:

1) Best accommodation in support of marine conservation: Serena Beach Resort and Spa

2) Best accommodation in communities and cultural preservation: Basecamp Explorer

3) Best accommodation in collaboration with impact partners: Porini Amboseli

4) Best accommodation in the establishment of Conservancies: Basecamp Explorer

5) Best accommodation in responding to Covid-19 impact (went out of their way to support communities around them to make it bearable during the pandemic): Governors Camp Collection

6) Best Community Tourism Initiative: Il Ngwesi

7) Best tour operator in promoting community development: Gamewatchers Safaris