Our Sustainable Island Mauritius Project Receives Silver Award for Supporting Sustainable Tourism Prior to the Coronavirus pandemic, more tourists visited Mauritius yearly (around 1.3 million) than the island’s total population (1,26 million). For tourist operators, Mauritian authorities, and local communities, such growth is welcome, yet it raises important questions. How can the development of the tourism sector benefit the economy while reducing its footprint (resource depletion, emissions, social inequities)? Conversely, how can the handprint be increased, that is adding value to community development, cultural preservation, ecosystem quality or authentic experience? In recognition of its holistic and multi-stakeholder engagement in promoting and supporting responsible tourism, our Sustainable Island Mauritius (SIM) project has been awarded the silver medal at the World Travel Market (WTM) Responsible Tourism Awards Africa. The WTM Responsible Tourism Awards Africa champion the best work in Responsible Tourism in the African continent. The awards aim to recognise businesses and destinations that make responsible tourism their focus, showing how they are cultivating change and pioneering creative projects that revolve around the wellbeing and sustainability of tourism and looking after the people and the landscapes that allow the industry to thrive. This year’s awards featured seven categories ranging from decarbonising travel to virtual volunteering. The SIM project was awarded a silver medal in the category “Destinations Building Back Better Post-Covid”. In this category, several destinations that are in the process of rethinking the tourist volumes and market segments that they will attract post-Covid were considered. The judges recognised that the SIM project has been able to work with the whole supply chain from hotels/tour operators to local producers and artisans as well as local communities. The SIM project is funded by the European Union in the framework of the Switch Africa Green programme with the objective of promoting sustainable tourism in Mauritius by demonstrating and scaling up self sustaining mechanism for improving sustainability impacts along the value chain as well as improving awareness and the market of sustainable tourism products. SIM promotes sustainable tourism innovation for tour operators and their suppliers (hotels, taxi drivers, tour guides, artisans and pleasure craft operators) by responding to changing consumer demands and global trends and introducing sustainable consumption and production practices. The project is being led by the Mauritius Tourism Authority (TA), and implemented by the CSCP. For further questions, please contact Kartika Anggraeni. Photo © wtm.com