The Geotourism Challenge: Celebrating Places - Changing Lives

Enter by: Apr 21, 2008 | Voting begins: May 28, 2008 | Winners Announced: Jun 3, 2008

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The National Geographic Society announced a three-year $25 million Global Geotourism Commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative to transform travel and tourism worldwide. Ashoka’s Changemakers is delighted to partner with National Geographic in support of this goal. We and our WHL Travel partner invite everyone who travels or who works in the tourism industry to participate in the first annual National Geographic-Changemakers Collaborative Competition to identify the “geotourism heroes” and their travel innovations that are leading the geotourism field.

Winners announced below

Announcing the winners:

Winners	Country
3 Nepali Sisters are Empowering Women through Adventure Tourism! Entry Title: 3 Nepali Sisters are Empowering Women through Adventure Tourism! City: Pokhara Country: Nepal Project Description: Based in Nepal, 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking (3 Sisters) was founded in 1994 to empower and employ rural women in adventure travel. Lucky Chhetri ... The Story: Trekking tourism is a huge industry in Nepal thanks to the Himalayas, but in the early 1990s women trekking guides were unheard of in a male dominated profession. Women worked hard behind the scenes, ... 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking	Nepal
Rainforest Restoration and Sustainable Community Development -Costa Rica Entry Title: Rainforest Restoration and Sustainable Community Development -Costa Rica City: San Jose Country: Costa Rica Project Description: Geotourism means to also focus on human welfare and advancement, in contrast to solely environmental-focused welfare/wellbeing. This is what Rios ... The Story: Native Central Americans, Rafael Gallo and Fernando Esquivel founded Rios Tropicales in 1985. Rafael and Fernando were longtime childhood friends who spent their early youth in neighboring El ... Rios Tropicales Lodge	Costa Rica
Yachana: Geotourism Lodge and School Entry Title: Yachana: Geotourism Lodge and School City: Mondaña Country: Ecuador Project Description: YACHANA: GEOTOURISM LODGE and SCHOOL We at the Yachana Foundation believe the future of the rainforest is inextricably linked to the well-being ... The Story: The earliest origin of the idea began at a subconscious level as a result of the problems I had with dyslexia in primary and secondary school. I had to repeat the second grade and almost didn’t ... Yachana Foundation	Ecuador

Finalists	Country
Community Gardens, Culinary Tour Entry Title: Community Gardens, Culinary Tour City: Giraudel Country: Dominica Project Description: Background Small rural communities often remain in the backwater of national development efforts in many poor countries as the attention seems to ... The Story: Over the past 35 years, I have worked with small farmers and farm workers in several Caribbean and Latin American countries as well as West and East Africa, developing ways of combining strategies ... Exotica Cottages	Dominica
To enhance our ability to support community and environmental objectives Entry Title: To enhance our ability to support community and environmental objectives City: Male' Country: Maldives Project Description: Please see above for full details of our program. In short, the internationally-recognized Banyan Tree Maldives Marine Lab is part of a larger ... The Story: Mr. Abdul Azeez Abdul Hakeem. Director of Conservation. Created the Banyan Tree Maldives Marine Lab and oversees all environmental and humanitarian projects for all Banyan Tree properties throughout ... Banyan Tree nominated by Canopus Maldives	Maldives
Evason Phuket Eco Trail Entry Title: Evason Phuket Eco Trail City: Phuket Country: Thailand Project Description: The Evason Phuket Eco Trail takes visitors on a journey through the heart-of-the-house of the resort. Local school groups, local communities and ... The Story: Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa follows Six Senses Resorts & Spas core purpose: “To create innovative and enriching experiences in a sustainable environment.” The Resort has developed an ... Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa	Thailand
Eco-health farms: Creating alternatives to mass tourism Entry Title: Eco-health farms: Creating alternatives to mass tourism City: Kuldigas raj Country: Latvia Project Description: The most important element of the EHF program is harmony between nature, the environment, and health in a traditional rural atmosphere- the ... The Story: In 1987 my husband and I joined other like-minded people to found the local chapter of the Latvian Popular Front to organize people to fight for Latvia’s independence, and became actively involved ... Eco-Health Farms	Latvia
The Great Baikal Trail: the first system of hiking trails in all of Russia Entry Title: The Great Baikal Trail: the first system of hiking trails in all of Russia City: Irkutsk Country: Russia Project Description: The Great Baikal Trail will allow access to parts of Lake Baikal that are now beyond the reach of most visitors. Only five percent of the lakeshores ... The Story: Siberia is a place of legend for all Russians. Lake Baikal, the pearl of Siberia, is the cradle of history for this part of the world. Genghis Khan was born near here, and many native tribes have ... Great Baikal Trail	Russia
Ladakh Homestays- transforming local mindsets towards snow leopards Entry Title: Ladakh Homestays- transforming local mindsets towards snow leopards City: Leh-Ladakh Country: India Project Description: The Ladakh Himalayan Homestays offer you a unique opportunity to stay with, and share the culture of Himalayan people in remote villages, while ... The Story: It was during 1999 while working with the International Snow leopard Trust that we conducted a livestock depredation survey to understand the root cause of conflicts between herding communities and ... Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust	India
Bhutan: Geotourism as National Policy Entry Title: Bhutan: Geotourism as National Policy City: Thimpu Country: Bhutan Project Description: Tourism in Bhutan is driven by the concept of Gross National Happiness by placing the interests of the common people at the center of development. ... The Story: Bhutan opened its doors to tourism only in 1974. Having seen the negative effects that mass tourism could bring to the environment and culture of a country Bhutan was very cautious from the ... Tourism Board of Bhutan	Bhutan
Chumbe Island Coral Park: helping save the coral reefs of Tanzania Entry Title: Chumbe Island Coral Park: helping save the coral reefs of Tanzania City: Zanzibar Country: Tanzania Project Description: Chumbe Island Coral Park Ltd. (CHICOP) is a private nature reserve that was developed from 1991 for the conservation and sustainable management of ... The Story: When arriving in the small Tanzanian port town Tanga in 1982 to manage a donor-funded school reform project, I developed a particular fascination for the incredible beauty of the fringing coral ... Chumbe Island Coral Park, Ltd.	Tanzania
Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries Eco-Agritourism Network Entry Title: Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries Eco-Agritourism Network City: Elounda Country: Greece Project Description: CCS organizes extraordinary cultural-culinary seminars for small groups. Our all-local network of professional organic farmers, chefs, historians, ... The Story: Message from CCS Founder Nikki Rose: Cultural-culinary heritage preservation has been my focus for over 20 years. I trained to become a professional chef and have worked with many extraordinarily ... Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries	Greece
PHINDA - PIONEERING RETURN TO WILDLIFE & COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP Entry Title: PHINDA - PIONEERING RETURN TO WILDLIFE & COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP City: Richards Bay Country: South Africa Project Description: Just 17 years ago the land of Phinda was degraded under poor agriculture. Today Phinda contains over 46000 acres of Big Five reserve, 7 distinct ... The Story: I didn't come up with the concept of Phinda - it was somebody elses dream. But it was so powerful that it drew me (and my wife!) away from our own tourism business based in the Cape to be part of it. ... CC Africa	South Africa
Using tourism as a conservation tool to protect people and nature Entry Title: Using tourism as a conservation tool to protect people and nature City: Andavadoaka (Tulear) Country: Madagascar Project Description: Blue Ventures is an award-winning not-for-profit that partners with local communities to conserve threatened marine habitats and resources for the ... The Story: Blue Ventures is an award-winning not-for-profit that partners with local communities to conserve threatened marine habitats and resources for the betterment of people and nature. Funded almost ... Blue Ventures Conservation	Madagascar
Creating a new global ecotourism destination in the rainforests of Gabon Entry Title: Creating a new global ecotourism destination in the rainforests of Gabon City: Libreville Country: Gabon Project Description: A Vision for Gabon: Tourism, Parks and Sustainable Development in the 21st Century, has been a collective effort involving conservation NGOs, private ... The Story: Our story is a collective one. In that I have been the glue that stuck various initiatives together I (Lee White) am the figurehead of this application. In 2002, inspired by the incredible images ... Wildlife Conservation Society	Gabon