The LATA Responsible Tourism Awards celebrate outstanding leadership in responsible, ethical, and sustainable tourism across Latin America.
As the regional awards for the Global Responsible Tourism Awards, these prestigious accolades recognise trailblazing initiatives that drive positive change, inspire industry-wide transformation, and set new standards for sustainability.
HOW DO I WIN AN AWARD?
The categories for the awards change, so for this year, there are four different categories to enter: Managing Waste, Climate Adaptation and Resilience, Responsible All-Inclusive Travel, and Peace, Understanding & Inclusion, alongside Nature Positive and Increasing Local Sourcing. The deadline for this year’s awards is 11 April 2025.
If you entered an award in 2024, we do encourage you to take a look at the new categories for this year as you may wish to enter something different.
ENTER THE AWARDS HERE
We have shared the winning entries from the 2024 Nature Positive and Increasing Local Sourcing categories, which are the only two categories that are the same.
All gold winners from the LATA Responsible Tourism Awards are automatically entered into the Global Responsible Tourism Awards.
Nature Positive
Gold Winner 2024: CREES (also won the global gold award)
www.crees-manu.org/
CREES offers a range of tours and volunteering opportunities as both internships and learning experiences. Operating in the Manu Biosphere Reserve CREES works to “promote sustainable alternatives that respect human rights, intergenerational rights, biodiversity rights, and the rights of its species to ensure long-term sustainable economic development.” This a broad and holistic agenda seeking to demonstrate through business that the community can find economically viable alternatives through the responsible management of natural resources. This is then shared with their clients through educational tourism; They have reduced greenhouse gas emissions, conserved over 600 hectares of forest in the buffer zone of Manu National Park and works with educational programmes to benefit the local people and conserve biodiversity.
Increasing local sourcing – creating shared value
Gold Winner 2024: Pura Aventura
Pura works directly with micro-enterprises and small-scale owner-hosted hotels and experiences generally in less visited areas. This enables Pura to provide unique experiences for its guests, providing a richer guest–host cultural exchange. 90% of their suppliers are micro or small enterprises, individual guides, single properties offering excursions, local crafts, local experiences, transfers and small local eateries. In 2023 Pura worked with 500 different suppliers, amongst them 62 in Costa Rica, 57 in Chile and 49 in Argentina. Amongst their top twenty suppliers, 55% are micro-enterprises. Of their top 50 suppliers, 78% are micro-enterprises, rising to 85% of their top 100 partners. Using mostly small and microlocal businesses and individuals ensures that more tourist income remains with the local community.
You can see all the winners from the LATA Responsible Tourism Awards 2024 here.