ABTA has been awarded Loro Parque’s prestigious Premio Gorila award in recognition of the work the Association has done to promote a range of sustainability issues, including its Global Animal Welfare Guidance. ABTA’s CEO Mark Tanzer collected the award at a ceremony at the headquarters of the Presidency of the Canary Islands Government in Tenerife last night. Attendees included the respective Presidents of the Canary Islands’ Government and the Island Government of Tenerife and local dignitaries.

ABTA was selected for the award based on its advocacy and leadership in the development and implementation of guidelines for all sectors of the tourism industry to integrate environmental sustainability into their activities. In awarding ABTA the accolade Loro Parque made special mention of “ABTA’s commitment to ensure that tourism does not compromise the welfare of animals, and that such well-being should be regarded as an essential component of the sustainable approach”.

Mark Tanzer, CEO ABTA commented:  “We are pleased to accept the award as recognition of the wide-ranging work we are doing to engage travel companies in adopting their own policies and ways of working with suppliers to ensure animal welfare standards are improved. We know that this matters to UK holidaymakers, a quarter of whom opt to interact with animals as part of their holidays each year. ABTA is proud to work with a wide range of travel companies, attractions, NGOs and other experts in forming comprehensive voluntary guidance for ABTA Members.”

For more than a decade, Loro Parque has awarded a prize on an annual basis, the ‘Premio Gorila’ (Gorilla Prize) related to environmental responsibility. For Loro Parque the ‘Premio Gorila’ has a broad recognition of such responsibility, taking into consideration strategies and actions to conserve biodiversity, to promote sustainable use of resources, and to improve the livelihoods of local communities. The prize has had a special focus of the role of tourism in sustainability, and in previous years the prize has been awarded to entities related to the tourism sector, and their efforts and commitment in the implementation of responsible environmental policy.

This prize consists of a bronze sculpture of a gorilla, because this animal represents loyalty, strength, fidelity and good social awareness, characteristics that exemplify this award.