The call for participants to the first edition of the Mario Bagnara Award for Sustainable Tourism is now open. The winners will be announced during the World Tourism Event, dedicated to the valorisation and promotion of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, scheduled for September 25 and 26, 2025, in Rome.
The recognition will commemorate Mario Bagnara, one of the founders of the Associazione Beni Italiani Patrimonio Mondiale, one year after his passing, and promote sustainability and responsibility in tourism, focusing on tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
The aim of the initiative is therefore to recognize individuals, operators, and organizations promoting respect for the environment, biodiversity, inhabitants and culture, as well as the protection of UNESCO heritage.
Three categories have been established for the Mario Bagnara Award for Sustainable Tourism 2025:
1) The most innovative tourism offering, reserved for travel agencies, tour operators, and tourism organizations.
2) The best initiative to promote and raise awareness about UNESCO values in tourism, dedicated to tourism organizations, institutions, associations, and local operators sensitizing visitors and local communities, especially younger generations, about the protection of World Heritage sites.
3) The best sustainable technologies for the protection, promotion, and use of World Heritage Sites, aimed at organizations, institutions, associations, and companies operating in the sector.
The Mario Bagnara Award was announced by M & C Marketing Consulting, organizer of the World Tourism Event, in collaboration with the Associazione Beni Italiani Patrimonio Mondiale, the Fondazione Santagata per l’Economia della Cultura, and Mario Bagnara’s family.
For information about the competition, please, visit the official World Tourism Event website. Applications must be submitted by August 31, 2025. 