Sustainable Tourism Award
Sponsored by
www.dorsetcereals.co.uk
Title Sponsor
www.saffery.com
Sustainable Tourism Award
Who can enter?
For businesses that can demonstrate achievements in making their business sustainable,
through a combination of environmental, community and communications initiatives.
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 these Awards but may help you to
illustrate points made in this entry that are not shown on your website. 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 or scans of certificates 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
in this location (yrs & months). Are you
part of a chain?
Please state what type of tourism business
you run (if accommodation please state any
quality ratings)
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 in the
last two years, please give dates and details (max 150 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? Please attach a copy or link to your sustainability policy.
(max 200 words)
Checklist
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)
Checklist
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 has 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)
Checklist
In your answer think about the following:
 Water usage for customers and the business as a whole
 Recycling & rainwater collection
 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)
Checklist
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)
 Kitchen waste
 Impact on costs and the environment
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 appreciate and care for the natural
environment whilst enjoying their time in the area? (Max 250 words)
Checklist
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 with visitors
 Customer reaction
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)
Checklist
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)
Checklist
In your answer think about the following:
 Purchasing of local food and drink, ethically produced products, recycled 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)
Checklist
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)
Checklist
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)
Checklist
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)
NB Judges will separately look at websites and review sites such as TripAdvisor, along with use
of social media etc. This will be scored separately.
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)
Checklist
In your answer think about the following:
 Examples of how your staff has 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 (inc
mobility, sensory, dietary, etc).
2. Accessibility information provision and promotion (before and during visit)
3. Accessible facilities and services
(max 200 words)
Checklist
Evidence might include:
 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
 In what alternative formats can you provide information about your business?
 How easy is it to find out about the accessibility of your offering, is there a link from your
home page?
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)
Checklist
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)
Checklist
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
Please email your entry AS A ‘WORD’ DOCUMENT to awards@services4tourism.co.uk by the
close date for the Awards, published at www.dorsettourismawards.org.uk. (DO NOT convert to
pdf, as this prevents judges checking word counts).
A supplementary file, if sent, should be no more than 5mb in size, should have a file name that
includes your business name, and should also be emailed to the above address. Please note
that supplementary files are voluntary and NOT essential for these awards, but that Judges will
look at online evidence such as websites, review sites, etc.
All entrants will be advised of their judges’ scores and how these compare with maximum
scores in the category.
Future communications will be from Services for Tourism Ltd, who are managing the Dorset
Tourism Awards. Their email address is: awards@services4tourism.co.uk. 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.
What happens next?
The initial judging will be based on the information provided within the application form along
with websites, review sites such as TripAdvisor and other external sources. At least five
businesses will normally be short listed in the first stage of judging for each category. All
entrants will receive feedback. Short listed businesses will be visited (mystery shopped where
possible). In general we will try to visit or mystery shop as many businesses as we can.
Good Luck
All entry forms are copyright Services for Tourism Ltd 2015.