Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2008

Nominate in our Responsible Tourism Awards 2008!

Nominations for our Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards are now open. Make your nomination by Monday 16 June and sign up to our emagazine to receive the latest announcements, nominations and updates.

Read a selection of this year's nominations

The Responsible Tourism Awards are the largest awards of their kind in the world and are a collaboration between online travel directory responsibletravel.com, who founded and organise the Awards, UK media partners Telegraph Travel and Geographical Magazine, and World Travel Market, who host the Awards ceremony (read more about our Partners).

In 2007 we received over 1700 nominations from travellers around the world and we will be relying on your responsible travel know-how once again to find the best of the best in 2008. All nominees are assessed on an equal basis. Read more about the Responsible Tourism Awards judging process and interviews with our 2007 winners

nominate now for the chance to win a holiday!
Nominate a winner in our 2008 Awards by Monday 16 June, and you could win an unforgettable holiday for you and a friend!

Real World Adventures by Virgin Holidays & Intrepid Travel is offering a fantastic prize trip of a 15 day tour of India.

The prize includes 14 nights accommodation (11 nights hotel/guesthouses, 1 overnight train, 2 nights deluxe air-conditioned tent) and return economy flights with Virgin Atlantic to Delhi.

Find out more about this amazing prize holiday.

why the Responsible Tourism Awards matter
Getting to know more about each other remains one of the most important hopes for the peaceful future of the planet.

If we are really to understand each other better, then we need to be reminded to travel carefully and thoughtfully, listening to people along the way and respecting the world we are privileged to travel through.

The Responsible Tourism Awards are one of the most important ways in which we can understand how to travel better.
Michael Palin

Photograph by Basil Pao

The Responsible Tourism Awards scheme is now widely recognised around the world for leading the way in celebrating individual achievements in responsible tourism. This unique Awards scheme, run by responsibletravel.com, inspires travellers and travel companies to tackle the environmental, social and cultural issues that tourism faces, head on. During my travels in the next few months I’ll be looking out for worthy nominees and encourage all passionate travellers to get on board: dig out those travel journals, tell your travel-mad friends and if you’re on the road, keep your eyes peeled for tourism ventures that are really making a difference. For me, the future of tourism is inextricably linked with this more thoughtful path of travel.
Ben Fogle


The significance of each single step towards our shared worldwide goal of sustainable tourism is greater than you may imagine – and these hesitant early steps are the most important as with any journey.

Your nominations for those that are our pathfinders are of inestimable value in building everyone’s confidence this really is the direction we must all be heading. Support our pathfinders and multiply the value of their efforts by encouraging others to follow their superlative example.
Pen Hadow, Explorer

Photograph courtesy Pen Hadow


Over the last few years, we've become painfully aware that tourism isn't just about passively observing a place, it's also about changing it - and usually for the worst. Most often we literally destroy the beauty or interest we have come to witness. It's therefore paramount that we learn to come up with forms of travel businesses that don't destroy their host organisms and The Responsible Tourism Awards sound like an admirable way forward.
Alain de Botton, Writer & Philosopher

Photograph by Charlotte de Botton


The Responsible Tourism Awards is now the largest and most prestigious Awards scheme of its kind in the world. More and more destinations, travel ventures (both large and small), tourist boards and travellers around the globe, are signing up to the concept of responsible tourism.
Not only is it a more enjoyable and authentic way to travel but it is also the only way forward if travel is to have a sustainable future.
Our Awards aim to recognise and encourage the passionate pioneers who are helping to bring about real, positive and lasting change in the tourism industry.
Justin Francis, Managing Director, responsibletravel.com

"I’m a huge fan of The Responsible Tourism Awards. The scheme rewards and recognises those companies that are helping to give people choices in the way that they travel. It shows people that it really is possible to travel responsibly in ways which benefit the country they are visiting, its wildlife and the local people."
Rosie Boycott, author and broadcaster

Download r:travel, the responsible travel magazine featuring all the winners of our Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2007