New Zealand recognised for responsible tourism

New Zealand was the big winner at the Responsible Tourism Awards this week, picking up the top accolades in the 'overall winner' and 'best destination' categories.

The awards were organised to recognise destinations and organisations that use tourism to achieve benefits for local cultures, economies and the environment.

New Zealand was nominated for the first time this year and picked up its awards against competition from 1,900 other nominees from around the world.

George Hickton, chief executive of Tourism New Zealand, said that one of the reasons behind the country's success was the development of its '100% Pure' brand image.

The judges at the Responsible Tourism Awards said: "New Zealand is our overall winner for proving that it is possible to develop a national strategy which uses tourism to help make better places to live and to visit."

Other winners included the South Australia Tourism Commission, which received the award in the 'best conservation of an endangered species or protected area' category.

The Bycyklen group of Copenhagen was also praised for its initiative to make 2,000 bicycles available for free public use on the streets of the Danish capital.

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