Sustainable Tourism
Award
Headline Sponsor
www.shepherdneame.co.uk
Sustainable Tourism Award
Who can enter?
All sectors of the tourism industry are eligible to enter. Entrants must demonstrate proven
commitment to sustainable best practice; awards and accreditations for sustainability
practices will be taken into consideration by the judges as well as the overall quality of
experience provided.
You may submit one electronic PDF or word document (not lots of files in one folder) as
supporting evidence. This is voluntary and NOT essential for the Awards but will be required
for any entrant that goes through to the VisitEngland Awards. If submitted the document
should be less than 5mb in size and the information provided should be used only to illustrate
points made in your entry form, otherwise it will be disregarded. If you wish to include images
please do so in your supporting evidence not on this entry form.
Judges will refer to your website and review sites for additional information and verification,
including evidence of environmental and access policies.
Please give details here of the individual who will be the point of contact for the awards.
Contact Name:
Business Name:
Address:
Telephone number:
Email (for us to contact you):
Website address:
Twitter:
PR contact (if different):
Business Details
How long has the business been operating:
(Yrs & Months)
Is your business independent, chain, public
sector, community interest/social
enterprise?
Do you have a National Quality Assurance
(NAQAS/VAQAS/QIT) Rating:
How many Staff do you employ: (Show
proprietors/owners + Full & Part Time)
Give details of any periods the
property/business is closed:
Do you hold any awards or independent certification rating relating to sustainability issued in
the past two years, please give dates and details (max 50 words)
Give a brief history of your business (max 200 words)
List your target markets eg families, specific age groups. (max 100 words)
Section 1: Commitment to sustainability excellence
1a) Please outline below the philosophy relating to your commitment to making your business
more sustainable. What puts you above the competition and at the top of your sector in
sustainable practices, what is your unique selling point? Please attach a copy or link to your
sustainability policy. (max 200 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 Why do you believe environmental and social responsibility is important?
 How does it relate to the economic profitability of your business?
 Why do you want to win this award?
1b Energy Management
What policies and initiatives does your business have in place that have helped to monitor and
reduce energy consumption? Do you generate any renewable energy or heat? Please include
evidence of any success/change seen as a result. (Max 250 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 Monitoring
 Heating & Lighting
 Energy generation
 Insulation
 Impact on costs and the environment
1c Water Management
What policies and initiatives does your business have in place that have helped to monitor and
reduce water consumption and ensure safe disposal/re-use of waste water? Please include
evidence of any success/change seen as a result. (Max 250 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 Water usage for customers and the business as a whole
 Recycling and rainwater collection
 Waste water – rain and grey water
 Impact on costs and the environment
1d Waste Reduction
What initiatives does the business engage in to reduce and recycle waste? Please include
evidence of any success/ change seen as a result. (Max 250 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 Examples of re-using products either within your business or others being able to re-use
products that your business has used. Examples of reducing waste eg through
purchasing policies, dosing systems, menu design, office practices
 Examples of recycling eg separation facilities (or use of waste contractor that separates)
 Use of materials and packaging (eg toiletries, cleaners, etc)
 Kitchen food waste
 Impact on costs and the environment
 What facilities do you provide customers eg recycling bins, reusable bags etc
1e Encouraging Wildlife
How does your business promote, support and help to protect the local countryside and/or
marine environment, wildlife, directly or through links/partnerships with other organisations?
What attempts are made to encourage visitors to respect and care for the natural environment
whilst enjoying their time in the area? (Max 250 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 If you are in an urban location think of any grounds, nearby green spaces or wildlife
organisations that you support
 Local fauna and flora
 Communications, information or education for visitors
1f Promoting Sustainable Transport
Does your business actively encourage visitors and staff to travel sustainably, eg walking,
cycling, car sharing, public transport, focussing on low mileage options etc? Please describe
specific initiatives, incentives and/or methods employed to do so. (Max 250 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 If you are in a location with no/limited public transport what do you do to encourage car
journeys to be shorter (eg focussing on nearby attractions)?
 Information (and any special offers/services) regarding how to reach you and (if
accommodation) information about travel within the area
 Your own transport usage
1g Supporting Local Economy/Sustainable Purchasing
Please describe initiatives and activities you have implemented in this area and briefly describe
where you have seen particular success? (Max 250 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 Purchasing of local food and drink, ethically produced products
 Local employment
 Purchasing local services
 How you communicate this to customers
1h Supporting Local Community
Please describe initiatives and activities you have implemented in this area and briefly describe
where you have seen particular success? (Max 250 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 Links with local groups, schools, etc
 Sharing your experience with other tourism businesses
 Participation in tourism trade bodies
 Promotion of local culture
1i Impact
What has been the most positive impact of your actions (cumulative or individual), either to
your business, visitors, community or the environment? (Max 100 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 How you measure impact in cost, customer satisfaction, impact, extra income etc
Section 2: Marketing & Communication
2a Please provide evidence on how you promote your business and within this how you
describe your sustainability activities to consumers in a way that attempts to sell the business?
(Max 200 words)
2b Please outline how you communicate your sustainability activities to others and how you
encourage them to take part and make a difference/ help your policies?
 Customers (Max 150 words)
 Industry - other local businesses/suppliers (Max 150 words)
 Community (Max 150 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 How you encourage your customers to join in to support your policies
 How you share your experience with others businesses
 What success can be illustrated
 Use of different forms of communication (direct contact, website, print, social media)
 Does your website makes customers want to visit the area
Section 3: Staff Engagement
How are any staff encouraged, engaged and trained to support your sustainability policy and
contribute ideas of their own? If you have no staff, what training or other sources of information
do you use to keep informed? (Max 200 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 Examples of how your staff have been engaged in contributing towards the sustainability
of the business.
 What training has been put into practice,
 What levels of knowledge do staff show to clients on sustainability,
 How effective are staff in supporting the organisation’s sustainability policies?
Section 4: Accessibility and Equality
Give details of how your business is accessible to all its customers including:
1. Customer service that caters for all customers including those with access requirements.
2. Accessibility information provision and promotion (before and during visit)
Accessible facilities and services (max 250 words)
Evidence might include:
 Certificates of accessibility training eg Welcome All
 Testimonials/examples of how you have looked after a customer with access needs
 Examples of how you promote the accessibility of your business
 Your Access Statement: How well it meets legislative requirements, whether it addresses all
customer sectors and disabilities, its language and ease of comprehension, information
about local facilities and tourism destinations, use of photos, diagrams, etc
 Examples of how you offer equal service to all
 In what alternative formats can you provide information about your business?
 How easy is it to find out about the accessibility of your establishment, is there a link from
your home page?
 Images of facilities/services for customers with access requirements
 Accessibility via road and public transport (downloadable maps) and to wifi, mobile signal
etc
Section 5: Adapting to Extreme Weather
Please describe what actions your business has taken to check its resilience to extreme weather
and actions to respond to emerging opportunities and threats? (Max 250 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 Checking your property is resilient
 Having plans for what to do in the event of extreme weather (including both physical and
promotional measures)
 Providing all-weather ideas and weather forecasts for customers
Section 6: Innovation and Inspiration
Please describe how you feel your business can illustrate a specific innovation, with associated
results, or how you have provided inspiration to others? (Max 200 words)
In your answer think about the following:
 How you have set your business apart from others by being innovative and inspirational.
 Evidence of your business being inspirational to staff and customers
 Also to suppliers and other tourism businesses (locally, regionally or nationally).
 Actions being taken to adapt the business for climate change/extreme weather.
What to do now
Please return your entry as a Word document along with any supporting evidence by email to
awards@beautifulsouthawards.co.uk before the closing date.
Future communications will be from Nell Barrington, Services for Tourism Ltd, who is managing
the Beautiful South Awards on behalf of Tourism South East. Nell’s email address is:
awards@beautifulsouthawards.co.uk so please add this address to your address book to avoid
communications being treated as Spam/Junk. If you do not add this address and are awaiting
news please ensure you check your Spam/Junk folders to see if news is being filtered out.
Please tick one of the following:
□
I am a current member of Tourism South East and entitled to free entry to the Awards.
My membership number is …………………………………………………..
□
I am applying as a non member for entrance into the Beautiful South Awards and
understand that I will be invoiced for £65 plus VAT as a contribution towards
administration costs *.
*The non member fee includes entrance into two categories in the Awards programme – plus
the Sustainability and Access categories. Payment must be made before the awards closing
date otherwise your awards entry will not be submitted for judging.
What happens next?
Initial judging will be based on the information provided within the application form along with
your website and other information sources. Approximately three to five businesses will be
short listed in the first stage of judging. Short listed businesses may be visited (mystery
shopped where possible). Feedback will be available on request.
All entry forms are copyright Services for Tourism Ltd 2015.