IIPT presents "Champions in Challenge" Awards at ITCMS in London.

The International Institute for Peace Through Tourism (IIPT) in partnership with Jacobs Media Group presented the IIPT “Champions in Challenge” Award to three global leaders during the International Travel Crisis Management Summit conference in London on Thursday 08 November 2018.

The ITCMS, in its 3^rd edition, saw the participation of global leaders in travel & tourism including Dr. Taleb Rifai, former Secretary General UNWTO and Chairman of IIPT’s Advisory Board, Gloria Guevara, President & CEO WTTC, Isabel Hill, Director National Travel & Tourism Office, US Dept. of Commerce,  Mario Hardy, CEO PATA, Anita Mendiratta, Founder and President CACHET Consulting and the Ministers of Tourism of Egypt, Greece and Jamaica.

Interesting and thought provoking sessions, case studies and presentations on Crisis Communication, Live Crisis Management, Fake News, Data Analytics and a number of contemporary issues provided the backdrop to the IIPT “Champions in Challenge” awards which were presented by Dr. Taleb Rifai, Ms. Gail Money, Managing Partner& Director of Finn Partners, who sponsored the Awards, and Ajay Prakash, President IIPT India.

The three award winners:

Hon. Edmund Bartlett – Minister of Tourism, Jamaica

Mr. Deepak Raj Joshi – CEO Nepal Tourism Board

Mr. Roger Dow – CEO US Travel Association

“One of the key areas for IIPT is to raise global awareness of tourism as a positive force – a force for good and a force for healing” said Ajay Prakash, President of IIPT India. “The IIPT Awards honour leaders who have stood forward in exceptional times of challenge and have made a real difference through their words and actions. Crises are an unavoidable fact of life; through the Champions in Challenge awards we seek to recognise exceptional leaders who embody the power of tourism to bring peace and stability.”

Hon. Minister Edmund Bartlett expressed his admiration for the IIPT when accepting the award, “I am honored to receive such an award from the IIPT.  I intend to continue my work to launch the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre in 2019 so that together we can carry out vital research and analysis on destination preparedness for crises that impact tourism and travellers visiting destinations all around the world.”

Mr. Deepak Raj Joshi said he was proud to receive this prestigious award on behalf of the entire team at Nepal Tourism and the people of Nepal. He thanked the international travel community for their support to Nepal after the devastating earthquake.

Roger Dow, who could not be present, sent in the following message:

 “My appreciation to the International Jury for this honor. More important, my sincere appreciation to you and the International Institute For Peace Through Tourism for the important work you do. No other industry does more to foster global peace and understanding. That said, we are all vulnerable to unexpected and devastating crisis. When crisis occur, the measure of our industry is how quickly we come together and recover. While the media is quick to cover crisis…our hard fought recovery is often not covered. Therefore, we must all come together to tell the story, when we are “open for business”. While, I empathize with my industry colleagues who have endured crisis…I celebrate and applaud their resiliency, spirit and tenacity that demonstrate our industry’s vitality!”

Gail Moaney, Managing Partner & Director of Finn Partners, the sponsors of the awards, along with CACHET Consulting, congratulated IIPT on the partnership with ITCMS and the awards initiative. She reiterated that it is important to acknowledge leaders who have stood forward in exceptional times of challenge and embody the spirit of resilience through their words and their actions.

ITCMS founder and Jacobs Media Group’s Group Business Development Director Daniela Wagner, said “We had put together a fantastic line-up of speakers for this year’s Summit which has quickly established itself as a vital forum for the most senior leaders in our industry to discuss the big issues and challenges they face in an uncertain world. We’re also delighted to strengthen and grow our partnership with the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism and build upon the regional IIPT awards for Excellence at the Resilience Through Tourism Summit in Amman earlier this year.”