The Traveling for Happiness Awards 2021 gala held on June 24 at the Mandarin Oriental Ritz hotel in Madrid. In this first edition, the jury awarded companies and professionals in the tourism sector whose actions during the pandemic have helped tourism destinations and society. The gala featured a live performance by Mala Rodríguez.

Traveling for Happiness Awards 2021

The first Traveling for Happiness Awards gala was held on June 24, 2021 at the exclusive Mandarin Oriental Ritz Hotel in the capital. At the event, the jury presented awards to companies and professionals in the travel industry who were recognized for their exemplary actions during the pandemic. The evening featured a performance by Mala Rodríguez.

Categories

The purpose of these awards is to highlight the actions carried out by the tourism sector during the pandemic situation, to reward them and to make more visible all those companies that with their help are getting involved in different initiatives helping destinations and society.

  • A person, company or organization that aims to satisfy current needs while ensuring a balance between economic growth, environmental care and social welfare.

  • A person, company or organization that has as its objective the administration of the company's own human capital, from the management of employees, to the selection of workers and their training.

  • A person, company or organization whose objectives are to assess and study the result or consequence of a given action in a community.

  • A person, company or organization whose objective is to ensure the complete physical, mental and social well-being of citizens.

  • A person, company or organization whose objective is to develop the competencies of individuals in order to direct them to achieve the goals and objectives set by a specific strategy.

  • A person, company or international organization that stands out for its activity in any of the above-mentioned categories.

  • All those suppliers/friends of the sector that have carried out good practices.

Discover the winners of the Traveling For Happiness Awards 2021

Winners 2021

Jury

The members of the jury are the best ambassadors of the values of this project. Our jury is made up of world experts in different fields

  • It has made innovation and education a central part of UNWTO's work, while making the Organization more agile and better positioned to work closely with its Members and the private sector. This has been instrumental in the successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to joining UNWTO, he was Minister of Economic Development and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, and Ambassador to Spain. In the private sector, Mr. Pololikashvili's experience includes positions as vice president of TBC Group and general director of Georgia's leading soccer team, FC Dinamo Tbilisi. He holds a degree in banking and is fluent in English, Russian and Spanish, in addition to his native Georgian.

ZURAB POLOLIKASHVILI

  • With a degree in Optics, Optometry and Contactology, Bellido founded the Aragonese Academy of Gastronomy in 1995. Always linked to gastronomy, she has been director of Restauradores Magazine (1999-2003) and for her activity as a communicator in written and radio media she received in 2004 the National Award of the Spanish Academy of Gastronomy for the best work in gastronomic press.

LOURDES PLANA

  • In addition to being chosen as one of the TOP 100 most influential women in Spain and one of the 10 most influential managers in the last three years.

    For 15 years, she has held various positions in a corporation of the caliber of Coca-Cola, including president of the Coca-Cola Happiness Institute. In addition, she was Director of Marketing and Communications for the Adecco Group and Thought Leadership Director worldwide. She was also founder and CEO of the Observatory for Innovation in Employment (OIEE). In addition to her professional career, she is also the author of the book Deconstructing Happiness.

MARGARITA ÁLVAREZ

  • Since the sale of Lonely Planet, Tony has worked in Australia with the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing & Ideas in Melbourne, in the UK with the Wheeler Institute for Business & Development at the London Business School and in the US as director of the archaeological organization Global Heritage Fund, which works with projects in developing countries. Planet Wheeler Foundation also works worldwide in these countries and has more than 50 projects mainly related to education and health.

TONY WHEELER

  • He has led different multidisciplinary teams, in addition to helping the integration of numerous isolated hospitals into hospital groups while maintaining the distinctive and positive elements of each.

DR. MANUEL CONDE

  • He is Professor Emeritus at Manchester Metropolitan University, CEO of the Responsible Tourism Association, an advisor to World Travel Market on its responsible tourism program, and chairs the judging panel for the World Responsible Tourism Awards. Harold drafted the Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations, agreed in 2002, and is a founding director of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism, which promotes the principles of the Cape Town Declaration.

DR. HAROLD GOODWIN

  • He holds a degree in Business Administration (Financial Management) from the European Business School. He is also chairman of the Tourism Council of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE); member of the Board of Directors of this council and of the CEOE Assembly; member of the Spanish Tourism Council (CONESTUR); vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, of Tourism of Tenerife and of the CEOE Tenerife; director of the public companies Hecansa and Promotur; chairman of the airline Canarian Airways; and member of the Canary Islands Tourism Council.

JORGE MARICHAL

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