Cheetah cubs seen on a Porini Safari
Gamewatchers Safaris and Porini Camps in Kenya, win the Virgin Airways World Responsible Tourism Award for Best for Conservation of a Species or a Conservation Area.
Gamewatchers Safaris & Porini Camps was chosen “for demonstrating that high revenue, low impact tourism development approach can benefit the local Maasai, enabling them through developing conservancies and tourism in partnership with safari companies to create employment and community income and to conserve their land for wildlife”.
The Responsible Tourism Awards were founded in 2004 by responsibletravel.com. Virgin Holidays became headline sponsors of the Awards in 2007. The Awards demonstrate that all types of tourism can and should be operated in a way that respects and benefits destinations and local people. The Awards recognize individuals, companies and organizations in the travel industry that are making a significant commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and are providing a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation.
For additional information on Gamewatchers Safaris and Porini camps (or for a photos or video), contact Laine Doss lainedoss@yahoo.com or visit www.porini.com.
About Gamewatchers Safaris and Porini Camps:
Gamewatchers Safaris is a custom tour and safari operator and the owner of four Porini Camps, situated in Kenya. They have also formed Porini Ecotourism LTD to help promote wildlife conservation through tourism.
Porini Ecotourism LTD is a Kenya registered company involved in the development of wildlife conservation areas on land owned by rural communities adjacent to national parks in Kenya. The company enters into lease agreements with landowners in order to establish a "Conservation Area" on their land and then develops the infrastructure (access roads, network of game-viewing tracks, culverts, waterholes, campsites, tourist facilities etc) to enable Ecotourism activities to be operated. The community is thus assisted in utilizing the land and wildlife as a resource and receives economic benefits (such as income and employment opportunities)
The company’s Porini camps are situated on these wildlife conservation areas and are eco-friendly. The camps utilize solar power and do not pour concrete on the land. The entire camps are designed to “revert back to nature” if and when the camps are no longer utilized. In addition, local Maasai tribesmen are employed by the camps, thereby fortifying the relationship between the camps and the land’s local tribes. Porini camps have been voted one of the Best Travel Companies by National Geographic and are Silver Eco-Rated by Eco-Tourism Kenya.
Contact:
Laine Doss, Director of Public Relations
Gamewatchers Safaris and Porini Camps
917-532-54679 lainedoss@yahoo.com
www.porini.com
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
