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TIME Unlimited Tours from Auckland NZ adds Environmental Gold Award to recent Global Tourism Award
Auckland tour company TIME Unlimited Tours has just won its 2nd major tourism award within a few weeks. They have just been announced as one of a small handful of Tour Operators in Auckland, New Zealand, to win the highly prestigious Qualmark Enviro Gold award, recognising its high standards in environmental practices.
This places TIME Unlimited Tours in the top 120 out of 16,000 tourism companies in New Zealand with regard to the critical aspects of sustainability and environmental performance that New Zealand is so well-known for.
They were able to add the Qualmark Enviro Gold Award to another major award win only a few weeks ago. In March 2010 they were pronounced overall winner in the public vote section of the global Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award 2010 in conjunction with the United Nations.
TIME Unlimited Tours offers the most extensive range of high-quality guided tours available in Auckland, New Zealand. These are:
• Auckland Personal Guided Tours;
• Auckland Maori Tours;
• Interactive Maori Culture Experiences;
• Guided Wilderness Walks;
• Kayak Fishing Tours;
• Kayaking Adventures;
• Kite Fishing Tours;
• Private Auckland and NZ Tours.
To earn New Zealand tourism’s official environmental award, TIME Unlimited Tours had to show effectiveness in energy efficiency, waste management and water conservation, with community activities and conservation initiatives also considered under Qualmark’s environmental criteria.
Ceillhe & Neill Sperath, “Directors of TIME”, say
“It has been an amazing year for our company. We feel that to follow up our global tourism award win with becoming the very first Auckland Tourism Operator to achieve the Qualmark Enviro Gold Award is a truly outstanding achievement for our company. We are delighted that the stringent and in-depth review process followed by Qualmark has shown us to be one of the most environmentally-responsible tourism businesses in New Zealand. We will by no means rest on our laurels but will see both of these awards as added motivation to keep improving in all aspects of our business.”
Please also take a look at their extensive website www.newzealandtours.travel which provides a great overview over what TIME Unlimited Tours is all about and which Auckland Tours they provide.
All businesses carrying the Qualmark logo must meet standards for environmental practices, says Qualmark Chairman, David Wilks, with the awards recognising top performers in this area.
“We evaluate environmental practices as part of the quality assessment process and businesses showing a high degree of commitment to caring for the environment and their communities can carry an Enviro Award logo,” says Mr Wilks.
Over 500 businesses have achieved Enviro Award status - recognising their commitment to Qualmark’s responsible tourism criteria and environmental practices. Of these, only the very best are able to proudly display Qualmark Enviro Gold, the highest award.
Qualmark® is New Zealand’s trusted guide to quality travel experiences - helping travellers identify over 2,300 great places to stay, things to do and ways to get around.
Accommodation, activities and transport businesses carrying the Qualmark® logo have been independently assessed to meet tough quality standards and environmental criteria - earning New Zealand tourism’s official quality mark. Qualmark is jointly owned by Tourism New Zealand and the New Zealand Automobile Association. The programme is run as an industry service, on a not-for-profit basis.
About Qualmark Enviro Awards
Since August 2008, the environmental performance of all tourism businesses with a Qualmark has been assessed under Responsible Tourism Operations criteria as part of on-site quality assessments. Businesses performing well in reducing environmental impact in five key action areas (energy efficiency, waste management, water conservation, community activities and conservation initiatives) are eligible to apply for an Enviro-Gold, Enviro-Silver or Enviro-Bronze Award.
The initiative, referred to as Qualmark Green, was unveiled to the tourism industry by the Minister of Tourism on 27 May 2008. The introduction of the Responsible Tourism criteria marked a ‘world first’, with New Zealand being the first country to have a fully integrated quality and environmental performance tourism assurance system.
ENDS
For more information, please see www.newzealandtours.travel and contact either:
Ceillhe & Néill Sperath
Directors of TIME Unlimited Tours
“To Integrate Maori Experiences”
Phone: +64-9-446-6677
Mobile: +64-21-574 414 or +64-274-846 369
Email: ceillhe(at)newzealandtours.travel
Website: www.newzealandtours.travel
or
Simon Claridge
Communications Manager
Qualmark New Zealand Ltd.
Ph +64 9 377 7153
Mob +64 27 687 8993
Email: simonc@qualmark.co.nz
Website: www.qualmark.co.nz
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