G.A.P Adventures wins Green Tourism Award

Volunteering in a remote community in Guatemala:

G.A.P. Adventures scooped the Green Tourism Award at BETA’s British Youth Travel Awards 2008. The ceremony took place in London where guests included the keynote speaker, Shadow Tourism Minister, Tobias Ellwood.

G.A.P. Adventures’ Marketing Manager EMEA, Gareth Hamilton accepted the award on the company’s behalf.

Said John Warner of GAP: “We are particularly pleased to accept this British award. Often organisations in the UK mistakenly view us simply a GAP year provider – the letters G.A.P are an acronym for the Great Adventure People – when we are actually offering in excess of 1000 small group adventures in 100 countries with trip styles that range from the more competitively priced services to upmarket trips and tours throughout the world.

We are delighted to be the inaugural recipients of the British Educational Travel Association’s Green Tourism Award.  Since G.A.P Adventures inception in 1990 we have pioneered a triple bottom approach of actively managing and reporting on all dimensions of company performance (social, environmental and economic) and weighting each of three equally in terms of importance. Whilst we have become the largest adventure tour operator in the world we have throughout remained true to our sustainable credentials – which are offering authentic, cultural travel experiences in a low impact and sustainable manner.

Being recognised by British youth travellers is testament to the strong partnerships that G.A.P Adventures have built in the UK, perhaps most notably our global preferred partnership with STA Travel and demonstrates that young British adventurers are keen to travel with and endorse a company that shares their commitment that travel can benefit both the individual and the local community.” 

Richard Edwards, Director of Planeterra said: “G.A.P Adventures’ work through Planeterra enabling young travellers to see the world from a meaningful perspective by interacting with local communities. It effects lasting, positive changes in awareness and attitudes, and ultimately in the success of the community projects to which they contribute. Receiving this award confirms that the dedication and enthusiasm behind our joint projects is leaving a positive legacy.”

The Green Tourism Award recognises the efforts that youth travel organizations make to maximize their positive impact on the environments and local communities in which they operate. Entrants were required to demonstrate proven commitment to sustainable best practice, either through innovation that is having a positive long-term impact, or has made a significant improvement in a given area during the last year.

G.A.P Adventures supports local communities all over the world in tandem with its own non-profit foundation, Planeterra. Travellers with G.A.P Adventures can get involved with any of Planeterra’s international projects, even while they are on a tour, thereby giving something back to places and people that they visit right around the world.

These range from education and shelter programmes for children, like the House of the People of the Sun in Peru, to animal conservation projects such as Save the Albatross in Antarctica. There are infrastructure projects such as Kenya Water to build water pumps, or the Adelante Project in Honduras, which provides micro-finance support for small local businesses.

Other successful Planeterra initiatives include the Seva eye camp which offers surgical support to correct cataracts and had a very successful result in Tibet this year.

Valere Tjolle