Justin Francis, founder of the World Responsible Tourism Awards, said the “levels of innovation” in this year’s entries had “surpassed expectations”.
“These are organisations which are using tourism as a counter to contemporary social problems, or translating ideas from other social businesses into the travel sector – they are pushing the boundaries of what responsible business can achieve,” he added.
Chair of judges professor Harold Goodwin agreed that this year had seen “an incredibly strong field of contenders”.
The winners will be announced on Tuesday November 8, 2016 at a ceremony at World Travel Market London, where more than 500 tourism professionals, tourism ministers and media representatives are expected to attend.
