JAKARTA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian government has delivered for the first time a series of awards to national tourist destinations for addressing environmental sustainability in their operations.
The nation's initial sustainable tourism award program, officially called 2017 Appreciation for Enchanting Indonesian Destinations, contended various categories including green management, green economy, green culture and green environment.
Gold, silver, bronze and green awards were provided for those picked as the winners in each category. The ministry also picked up an ultimate winner which received a platinum award.
A total of 17 award receivers have been shortlisted from 96 domestic tourism entities located in 43 regencies in 23 provinces.
The assessment methods to qualify the winners were adopted from Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) international standards.
Bali's Nusa Dua Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) was picked as the ultimate winner that deserves to receive the platinum award, the award organizer said in a statement released on Thursday.
Meanwhile Banyan Tree resort in Bintan seized the gold award for green management category.
Nglanggeran tourism village in Yogyakarta obtained the gold award in green economy category, while Penglipuran tourism village and Pemuteran village in Bali received gold awards for green culture and green environment categories.
"The award deliverance event was also intended to observe International Tourism Day whose theme, Sustainable Tourism, a Tool For Development', had already been set by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for this year," Indonesia Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said in his remarks to launch the award program on Wednesday night.
The minister said winners of the national sustainable tourism award program would be sent to compete in 2018 ASEAN Tourism Awards held during the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) slated for January 2018 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The award program also feature other appreciations for national green hotels, green restaurant design, tourism-minded community and best homestays.
