Aitken Spence Travels (Pvt) Ltd (ASTL) won the Most Sustainable Tour Operator / DMC award at the Sustainability Awards 2024.
The awards ceremony was organised by the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Sri Lanka (AHK Sri Lanka), in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) for the tourism industry. This is the second time Aitken Spence Travels has won this award.
The primary objective of this recognition program was to acknowledge the exceptional efforts of tourism sector stakeholders in promoting sustainability within their businesses.
It also aims to create a competitive platform to increase visibility, highlights achievements through success stories, enhances reputations among industry peers and stakeholders, and utilises this recognition to foster future partnerships and business opportunities.
This year the awards focused on two main segments; namely the Tour Operators/Destination Management Companies (DMCs) and Hotel and accommodation service providers. Within each category, there was a sub-category awards for large enterprises and small to medium-sized enterprises. The evaluation of the awards took into consideration factors such as the organisations holistic approach towards sustainability, the company’s visionary leadership, innovative capability, and resistance to external factors when implementing sustainability practices.
Head of the Tourism Sector for Aitken Spence, Stasshani Jayawardena said, “We are delighted to receive this recognition for the second time, as the last award ceremony was held in 2022. As one of the leading DMCs in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, sustainability is deeply rooted into our company’s core values.” Managing Director of ASTL, Nalin Jayasundera said, “The company has a dedicated sustainability team to ensure consistency and high standards in our sustainable approaches. We carry out all our activities under the umbrella brand of ‘Travel Kindly’.
“We embrace CSR practices in key areas, including youth skill development, cultural preservation, and biodiversity conservation. Particularly in biodiversity, we place special emphasis on addressing the human-leopard conflict in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka, underscoring our commitment to environmental and social responsibility,” he said.
