Rios Tropicales Wins Skal 2014 Sustainable Tourism Award with El Tigre Project & more
Our beloved client Rios Tropicales is once again getting recognized for its innovative and exceptional approach to tourism. Skål International awarded Rios Tropicales its 2014 Sustainable Tourism Award in the category of Tour Operators. President and Cofounder Rafael Gallo was in Mexico City on October 26 to receive the award. We raised our glasses in absentia from all our remote locations in honor of Rios. One of the most rewarding aspects of what we do at Liquid Spark is helping our clients tell their story clearly, with passion, and with a keen understanding of how to interpret the tangible, positive implications for people, place, and planet that are a result of our clients’ adventure company activities. The end result? Our clients get the recognition and publicity they so richly deserve. We have been directly working with Rafael and Rios Tropicales since 2008, leading off our partnership with helping them win the inaugural National Geographic Geotourism Award in 2008, and Julie has known the team at Rios since her raft guiding and white water kayak instructor days in the late 80s and early 90s. Since then, Rios has continued its mission of sustainable adventure tourism at home in Costa Rica and leading by example and training for companies around the world. It’s been amazing to watch Rafael, Fernando and the Rios team develop from their early days in 1985 to an award-winning adventure company and geotourism leader leading in the 21st century. Go, Rios!
Skål International’s 2014 Sustainable Tourism Awards follows an evaluation carried out by three independent judges with scores summed at the Skål Secretariat. The project getting the highest score is declared winner in the respective category. “We’re honored to receive this award recognizing our consistent programs and principles that support replicable, community-driven, sustainable tourism,” said Rafael Gallo.
Rios Tropicales runs its adventure company with a foundation of sustainability principles that benefit all its stakeholders: employees, local communities, tourists and the environment. One of its signature projects, involving the nearby village of El Tigre, exemplifies how Rios Tropicales engages with the local community and environment, and innovates with private-public funding partnerships to promote sustainability and conservation. For more information, watch the El Tigre Project short intro video (we led development of this mini-documentary, too). Or, watch the full 10 minute mini-documentary. You’ll be amazed at what Rios and the El Tigre project have accomplished.
Liquid Spark worked with Rios Tropicales on the Skål award application, helping Rios once again tell its story in such a way that others can truly understand the tangible benefits of sustainable tourism, and how the concrete example of El Tigre delivers to its community. Getting recognized for fantastic work is just one way to reach more people and really tell your story. We help clients assess what elements are needed to make successful stories, and coach you on how to define, gather, and measure results to tell that story best.
Read the Rios Wins Skål Award press release here.
Visit Rios Tropicales (are you due for an awesome adventure vacation?)
Visit Skål International.
