CANATUR awarded tourism business excellence
Róger Solórzano Canales | Feb 13, 2012
Five national businesses got an award for their outstanding practices in the tourism field.
The National Chamber of Tourism of Nicaragua (CANATUR) gave, on Friday 10, the Güegüense National Award for Excellence to the 5 best evaluated companies throughout this competition. Each plaque and recognition was given during a formal event that is annually organized by this business chamber.
After an extended evaluation process, which was launched last September (2011) and included the participation of all the companies that wanted to compete for the prize, the final winners were chosen within each of the following categories:
- Social responsibility: Hotel Punta Teonoste
- Product Innovation: Hotel Holiday Inn
- Promotion of destination: Mundoventura
- Sustainability: Resort Selva Negra
- Business Excellence: Mombotour-Café Las Flores
In addition to the plaque and certificate of recognition, each winner gets the right to use the award emblem as "a marketing element," said the Executive Director of CANATUR, Zenayda Laguna. In addition, the functionary explained, the winner of the "Business Excellence" category - considered the best company of the contest - will get flight tickets and scholarships so that its collaborators use it to study English as a second language.
The award also includes other special recognition. One is for projects that contribute to the chamber's tasks, named "Friends of CANATUR", which was given to Al-InvestIV-Apen. Another one is for the media, recognition that was given to ViaNica.com. A unique, special award was given to the program "Destinos con Sabor", developed by INTUR.
About the award
The annual Güegüense National Award for Excellence in Tourism was instituted by CANATUR in 2005 with the objective of promoting "business initiatives, promotion mechanisms and institutional policies focused on improving the quality standards and better practices in the tourism field," stated the official description of award. The results are authenticated by an audit conducted by Price Waterhouse.
All the companies that are members of the chambers can compete for this award either through an external nomination or self-registration. Each participant gets an evaluation format that is later presented to a jury constituted by members of the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism (INTUR), the Nicaraguan Union for Social Responsibility (UNIRSE), the projects Empresas y Empleos and Sustainability, both managed by the American cooperation (USAID), and two members of CANATUR.