Dubai Sustainable Tourism Awards 2019

News & Press Releases

Dubai is starting to emphasise the importance of sustainability in all sectors, and as the build up to World Expo 2020 gets closer, this hot topic of sustainability in Dubai has become even more popular. With the mission to promote sustainability in the tourism sector, Dubai Sustainable Tourism has created an annual awards ceremony where industry leaders in the sustainable tourism and ecotourism space are commended for their efforts.

As an Eco-friendly company, Platinum Heritage always strives to be as sustainable as possible, and to be a leader of ecotourism in Dubai. We are constantly looking for new ways to improve our practices, and implement changes in our operations to help reduce our impact on the environment.

This month, we were lucky enough to have some of our hard work acknowledged by winning the 2019 Dubai Sustainable Tourism Renewable Energy Award, and the 2019 Dubai Sustainable Tourism In-Bound Tour Operator Award. The Dubai Sustainable Tourism Awards are hosted to recognize the sustainability efforts of tour operators in Dubai. It’s a direct initiative of the Dubai Tourism board, and as such it’s an honor to win not just one, but two Dubai Sustainability Tourism Awards this year.

Although recognition is appreciated, our goal is not to collect awards. Rather, we like to encourage ecotourism efforts within all companies, not just Platinum Heritage. Regardless of the company, industry, or region, there are more Eco-friendly changes that can be made. We try to demonstrate examples of these changes first-hand, by adjusting our own daily operations. You can read more about our Sustainability Mission here or watch the video below.

As time goes on, we continue to refine our sustainability practices and continue to seek areas of improvement. Our camps have long been 100% solar powered, but this year, we took things a step further by removing our dependence on outside water. We have recently implemented a new hydration system that eliminates the need for outside water by collecting moisture from the air and filtering it into fresh drinking water. Despite the added cost of implementing the new system, with time it will pay for itself, and we will have reduced our environmental impact in the process. It’s opportunities like these that we are incessantly searching for, and encouraging others to search for as well.

We recently received a certificate of appreciation from the EMIRATES ENVIRONMENT (GROUP EEG) for our contribution to recycling glass. EEG is a professional working group devoted to protecting the environment through the means of education, action programmes and community involvement. This certificate is awarded to their partners including individuals, corporate members, federal and local government agencies, schools, as well as reputed regional and international institutions for collecting a certain amount of glass.

Participants are given targets depending on the type of waste collected which entitles them to planting trees at the Annual Tree Planting Event. For every 250kg of glass collected, the participant is entitled to plant 1 tree during the annual tree planting event. Overall, EEG has planted over 2.9m trees in the UAE since its creation. There are 135 families, 70 schools and 48 companies to participate in this year’s Tree Planting Event and we have been invited to plant 8 trees for collecting 2207 kg of glass.

We are always looking for ways to become more sustainable and look forward to seeing positive changes for sustainable travel and ecotourism in Dubai. From the Conservation Guides to the office staff, our mission has always been to protect the Emirati cultural heritage and natural environment in Dubai. This is one of the core reasons of what makes the Platinum Heritage Desert Safaris different.