Abta has been honoured for its work the to promote a range of sustainability issues, including its global animal welfare guidance.
Chief executive, Mark Tanzer, collected an award at a ceremony at the headquarters of the presidency of the Canary Islands government in Tenerife.
Abta was selected for the Loro Parque ‘Premio Gorila’ award for its advocacy and leadership in the development and implementation of guidelines for all sectors of the tourism industry to integrate environmental sustainability into their activities.
The ‘Premio Gorila’ (Gorilla Prize) recognises environmental responsibility.
The Tenerife adventure attraction Loro Parque made special mention of the association’s “commitment to ensure that tourism does not compromise the welfare of animals, and that such well-being should be regarded as an essential component of the sustainable approach”.
Tanzer said: “We are pleased to accept the award as recognition of the wide-ranging work we are doing to engage travel companies in adopting their own policies and ways of working with suppliers to ensure animal welfare standards are improved.
“We know that this matters to UK holidaymakers, a quarter of whom opt to interact with animals as part of their holidays each year.”