Costas Christ

Chairman of Judges, Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, USA

Costas Christ is an internationally recognised expert on sustainable tourism whose work and travels have taken him to more than 100 countries around the world. He is a columnist and the Editor-at-Large for National Geographic Traveler and also writes the Go Green travel column for Virtuoso Life magazine. He is a founding member and former Chairman of the Board of The International Ecotourism Society and served as Senior Director at Conservation International where he was responsible for ecotourism projects supporting poverty alleviation and the protection of biodiversity in more than a dozen countries. He is on the Advisory Panel of the WTM World Responsible Tourism Day, serves as a special advisor to The Leading Travel Companies Conservation Foundation, and is a member of the Advisory Board of Sustainable Travel International. He also serves as Ambassador-at-Large for the Spirit of Big Five Foundation and is a founding Board member of The Bodhi Tree Foundation. In 2008, Costas was honoured as a travel and tourism Visionary by the International Restaurant and Hotel Awards.

Costas' travel articles and essays have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Sunday Times of London and International Herald Tribune. He is a frequent guest on television and radio, including Travel Channel, CNN International, Good Morning America, NBC Today Show, BBC, and National Public Radio, among others, to talk about sustainable tourism. A featured keynote speaker at many international conferences and a Travel & Tourism consultant to companies, governments and organisations, Costas has served as the Chairman of Judges for the WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards since 2004.