http://www.mynatour.org/contest/ecotourism-travel-blog Dear Travellers First of all, congratulation to all for your amazing stories! ....falling in love on the road, biking as a kamikaze, crossing the cold dry deserts, fishing, sailing, surfing, farming, trekking, volunteering on the reef, getting lost in a metropolitan jungle or in the depth of the rain forest. From freezing Alaska to the Australian desert and everything in between... The ten winning stories in our opinion are all fantastic and make it clear that it was difficult to pick only 3 of them. The criteria we used includes creativity, originality, quality of writing, photography, ability to engage an audience (number of supporters) and most important the talent to inspire other to conserve nature and promote intercultural understanding. Our judging panel met up at the World Travel Market (WTM) trade show London and remotely to assess your stories and finally we are glad to announce the three winners: 1st Prize: A Garden Lady in India's Cold Mountain Desert. Submitted by Shivya "Because of the simple yet profound way the author combines several important aspects of what made this trip such a memorable experience: local encounters, education, and of course the natural beauty of the place" - Ayako Ezaki -- 2nd Prize: Reef to Rainforest. Submitted by Hobbers ..."How carefully they made a choice of the ecotourism experience they wanted to live through, and whether or not the experience was as rich an ecotourism experience as they thought it would be!" - Ethan Gelber 3rd Prize: My Trip to Mali: Halt in Terya Bugu. Submitted by mariodifra ..."One of the most important things that we need to do when we go to some places is to get to know the place, learn about the place, learn about how they live, what is their culture, their logic and just follow the local logic. Aivar Runkel The 3 winners will be able to choose out of 6 amazing ecotourism holidays for 2 persons courtesy of WHL.travel. The winner will be able to choose first and so until the 3rd. We would like to thank our great sponsor whl.travel and the tour operators in each destination: Yacu Amu Experience -- The Galapagos Island http://www.yacuamu.com/ Soomaa.com -- Estonia http://www.soomaa.com/ Teamworkz -- Laos http://www.teamworkz.asia/ Eternal Yemen -- Yemen http://www.eternal-yemen.com/ Yachana Lodge -- Ecuador http://www.yachana.com/ Outdoor Albania -- Albania http://www.outdooralbania.com/ So it's time to celebrate with your friend and a fully equipped backpack! Ready to set out for your next adventure? Then check out the prizes...choose one and enjoy your local adventure! A big thank you to all for your great stories, your supporters!! Many thanks to our Judging Panel Members: Ethan Gelber -- WHL Group, Chief Communication Officer http://www.whl.travel/ Ayako Ezaki -- The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Director of Communications http://www.ecotourism.org/ Jassi Sandhar - Tourism Concern, Membership Officer http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/ Davide Valin -- Mynatour Community Manager http://www.mynatour.org/ Special thanks to: Amin Mueller -- Fragile Media, Video and Editing Jennifer Aston -- whl.travel, Contest Supervisor Dom Davda -- Web Designer Vincent Van Uffelen -- PHP/Drupal developer Jeanett Andrea Søderstrøm - Social Media Intern at Tourism Concern Emanuela Manca -- Ecotourismo Italia, PR Pauline Branchereau - Alessandro Annunziata - Maritza Darquea -- Translation

• published: 15 Nov 2011
• views: 17634