In a ceremony hosted last night in Santiago by Chile’s Federation of Tourism Businesses, EcoCamp Patagonia was awarded Chile’s Most Sustainable Tourism Company prize for 2012. The prize was received by EcoCamp’s proud owners Javier Lopez, Yerko Ivelic and Nani Astorga.

University friends Javier & Yerko together with kayak instructor Nani Astorga decided to expand their adventure tourism company Cascada Expediciones, founded in 1991, into the hotel industry, and in January 2001 Chile’s first sustainable Eco Lodge opened its doors. EcoCamp is the only lodge in Patagonia with a certified Environmental Management System (ISO 14001) and quality management system (ISO 9001) and has become a best practice for ecotourism development in an area of unspoilt wilderness.

Owner Javier who drew EcoCamp’s design sketches is thrilled by the prize. “It means a lot to me that EcoCamp is finally being recognized in Chile and we’re getting credit in our own country.” Owner Yerko, architect behind EcoCamp’s green technology, said, “EcoCamp is a real success story. We put together all the ecotourism features we’d seen across the world, in the most beautiful national park we knew and never stopped working to achieve the best product we could provide for our guests and the environment.”

EcoCamp Patagonia Torres del Paine W Trek [full version] from CascadaExpediciones on Vimeo.

Immerse yourself in the EcoCamp experience by watching the video above. AdventureSmith operations manager Chris Harter stayed at the EcoCamp domes in 2010 so give us a call at 1-800-728-2875 to learn what traveling to EcoCamp is like, and to book your trek today.