Three Scholarships have been awarded. The Adventure Travel Trade Association’s staff and Board of Advisors voted on them based on the following criteria:

• Demonstrated need, e.g., start-ups, non-profit status, located in an emerging, but impoverished destination
• Potential for positive impact on local cultural, ecological and/or historical resources
• Exemplary ecological, historical and cultural practices
• Exemplary efforts to work with local and indigenous peoples
• Proof of the highest level of professional ethics and practices
• Ability to prove how this scholarship will be used to elevate the business to a higher level of success—and how it can be utilized over the long run in order to build long-term and lasting success for the company

Compete Article

Zbulo offers guided, self-guided and tailored walking holidays and trekking trips as well as special interest tours in Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo. At the same time, we are keen to give back to the communities we work in and with. With tourism as a tool, Zbulu solves local issues by giving the right incentives to hosts and partners, and provides meaningful experiences that focus on cross-cultural learning and mutual exchange for their guests. After the fall of communism and still in recent years, many people have left their villages. As Zbulu sees it, the new employment opportunities that responsible and sustainable tourism brings can improve the situation for these people.

Says Co-Founder Ricardo Fahrig: “With the help of the ATTA’s scholarship we can access a pool of knowledge and, in return, also add to it. By gaining insights and learning about approaches other members utilize, we hope to succeed with a new business model.”

Find the video interview in Namibia on the ATTA page

Read the full article (German)

„In einer aufstrebenden Destination wie Albanien galt bisher „Wachstum um jeden Preis“. Das Resultat: ein Anstieg der Besucherzeilen um 700% in der letzten Dekade. Die Nebeneffekte: verbaute Küstenabschnitte, soziales Ungleichgewicht, Übernutzung natürlicher Ressourcen und Entwicklungsdruck mit unvorhersehbaren soziokulturellen Folgen. Als lokaler Operator mit starken Wurzeln in den Communities mit denen wir arbeiten, fühlen wir diese negativen Auswirkungen. Tourismus verstehen wir jedoch als Werkzeug, um lokale Bedingungen zu verbessern und verfolgen dieses Ziel mit unseren Angeboten. Durch die Auszeichnung hoffen wir auch formal unser Bestreben zum nachhaltigen und verantwortungsvollen Tourismus zum Ausdruck gebracht zu haben und gut sichtbar für potentielle Partner zu platzieren. Ich erwarte durch das Networking von TourCert Kontakte zu knüpfen und besseren Zugang zu ähnlich engagierten Veranstaltern zu finden.