On January 10, 2011, HSMAI (Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International) announced the Gold Adrian Award honorees of the first-ever “Leader in Sustainable Tourism” Award, presented in conjunction with National Geographic Traveler. The Gold award winners are in the running for the top honor, a Platinum Award, to be announced at the HSMAI Adrian Awards Reception and Gala being held in New York on January 31, 2011.

The Leader in Sustainable Tourism Award recognizes a person, company or community for demonstrable leadership and innovation in preserving and communicating an authentic sense of place through a wisely managed tourism campaign. Nominees were judged by how their efforts preserve the environmental, cultural and historic integrity of a destination, and how the program demonstrated leadership, innovation and accomplished its goals.

TIES business member The Boat Company has been recognized as one of the five Gold Adrian Award recipients, for its campaign The Boat Company: 30 Years of Sustainable Eco-Cruising. The Boat Company, incorporated in Alaska in 1979 by the McIntosh Foundation, is a non-profit educational organization (allowing for a portion of guests’ reservations to be tax deductible) offering luxury eco-cruises through Southeast Alaska, offering unique and exciting opportunities to experience – and help protect – The Tongass National Forest.

The Boat Company has been founded for the purposes of responsibly enjoying and helping preserve Alaska’s last remaining temperate rainforest, Tongass National Forest

The Tongass National Forest is this Earth’s last, substantially intact, temperate rainforest. It contains 17 million acres (approximately 26,500 square miles) and covers almost 95 percent of Southeast Alaska. On the mainland to the east, the Tongass is bordered by the Canadian Rocky Mountains and on the west by an archipelago of hundreds of islands. The Tongass National Forest is home to an incredible array of wildlife – whales, salmon, eagles, sea lions, bear, sea otters, deer, orcas, and puffins, to name a few.

The Boat Company trips, with a skilled and capable crew, accommodate the needs and wishes of each guest. Hikers can spend as much time off the boat as they like – hiking the forest service trails, beachcombing the tide flats, walking the stream beds and taking leisurely strolls along the beaches in the company of our trained naturalists. Water sport enthusiasts can explore hidden covers and scenic shorelines by canoes and kayaks.

Learn more about The Boat Company and its vision for conservation and sustainable tourism: Presentation by The Boat Company Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Hunter McIntosh, at the Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC) in Portland, Oregon (September 2010).