00:00 You know, being a jury member is always very difficult.
00:11 You're carrying this huge weight on your shoulders to try and pick out one or two people.
00:16 And actually everybody really are winners.
00:18 And it's a cliched thing to say, but it's a fact.
00:22 And this fact is highlighted even more this year because of the bigger weight on the shoulders
00:29 of everybody in the tourism industry.
00:32 It has been so difficult the last two years and everybody's hoping it'll be much better
00:38 as we go along.
00:39 But the last two years has been devastating for the industry.
00:43 And all those small entrepreneurs, small hotels, resorts, small tour operators, guides, I think
00:50 everybody's suffered tremendously because of this pandemic that we've all suffered.
00:56 But in this suffering, there are people who still said that, okay, this is what it is,
01:03 but we need to be more responsible.
01:04 We need to be more sustainable.
01:06 What can we do?
01:07 How can we use this time that we're not working with our guests to take our own standards
01:13 of sustainability to the next level?
01:16 And that is true commitment.
01:17 In a way, if somebody stays the course and doesn't throw in the towel and say, you know,
01:22 forget it, this doesn't make sense.
01:24 That is true courage.
01:26 And we have just been through a list of many of them who showed this courage in spite of
01:32 all the difficult times.
01:34 So while they have raised their own standards and sustainability, doing that during these
01:42 difficult times, I think is at another level altogether.
01:46 And it was really heartwarming to see so many people doing so much very good work.
01:51 And I just want to raise my hats off to all of them.
01:54 Thank you.
01:56 [Music]
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