Micato Musings


Archive for the ‘Awards’ Category

We Did it Again! Eight Wonderful Years of Being Travel+Leisure’s World’s Best

  • July 14th 2011

“Becoming number one is easier than remaining number one.” – Bill Bradley

In 2003, Micato made it to the top of Travel+Leisure’s World’s Best list for the first time. One win might have been called serendipitous; the consistency of eight wins, however, has certainly dispelled any such notion!

The trick, as noted by former U.S. senator, Olympic gold medalist and Knicks forward, Bill  Bradley, is remaining number one. After our first win, we kept our noses to the proverbial grindstone to prove that the #1 spot really belonged to Micato.

Steadfastly striving to be the best does pay off, and this year we are both proud and humbled to be Travel+Leisure’s #1 Tour Operator and Safari Outfitter again, for the eighth time. This award—a result of an extensive Travel+Leisure reader’s survey—has always meant a great deal to us because the opinions of our guests are, and always will be, the truest measure of our service.

As a family-owned and operated company, we have something very personal at stake. Indeed, Micato’s reputation is virtually interchangeable with our own. We are grateful every day to be doing what we love—sharing our treasured homeland—and we are committed to always offering the best to our guests. It’s said that “a winner never stops trying,” and we couldn’t agree more.

Thank you for voting for Micato year after year. You and your fellow travellers are what inspire us to provide the “World’s Best” tours and safaris to our guests each and every day.

Micato’s winning secret: treat guests like the family we are. As we celebrate where we are, a look back at who we are….

Enjoy these photos of the Pinto family through the years:

L to R: Anna, Felix, Jane, and Dennis at the Taj Mahal, circa 1960s

L to R: Felix, Anna, Dennis, and Jane on the cover of Travel Agent Magazine, 2002

L to R: Tristan, Joy, and Sasha breakfasting in the Serengeti, 2003

L to R: Jane, Sasha, Felix, Dennis, Joy, Anna, and Tristan picnicking in Kenya’s Chyulu Hills, 2010

 

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Micato Wins T+L “Global Vision” and Virtuoso “Best Tour Operator” Awards

  • November 9th 2010

We’re practically speechless at Micato these days. On the heels of our Travel +Leisure World’s Best and Condé Nast Traveler World Savers wins, we recently garnered two other amazing accolades: a Global Vision Award from Travel + Leisure magazine and the Best Escorted Tour Operator Award given by Virtuoso Travel Advisors.

Receiving a 2010 Global Vision Award from Travel + Leisure magazine is a true honour.  The awards were given in five categories—conservation, sustainability, preservation, development and leadership—and are designed to recognize the best examples of the power of travel as an engine of positive change.

Micato won in the development category for our efforts in Youth Education, particularly the innovative Micato One for One Commitment—through which we send an African child to school for every safari we sell.

We’re also proud to have received the Best Escorted Tour Operator Award given at the 2010 Virtuoso Travel Mart Gala.  We’re especially pleased because most of the other nominees were large operators with worldwide programmes and, we must add, companies which we hold in the highest regard. To have won as a family-owned, boutique safari outfitter is a truly a thrill.

Awards like these inspire each Micato team member to work even harder as stewards of the destinations in which we operate our tours.

The Micato team—in fancy cultural costumes–accepting the Virtuoso Best Tour Operator award.

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Micato Wins Two Condé Nast World Savers Awards

  • September 10th 2010

Micato was judged the winner of not one, but two prestigious World Savers Awards, as announced in the September issue of Condé Nast Traveler magazine.

We have won in the “Education Initiatives” category for the introduction of our groundbreaking Micato One for One Commitment.  This initiative, introduced in January 2010, places one child in school for every safari sold.

Micato also received the highest overall score across the five categories combined, making us the winner amongst tour operators in the “Doing it All” category.

The World Saver awards honors tour operators, airlines, cruise lines, resorts and hotels that are working to save the world. Winners were selected by 22 expert judges—academics, CEOs, philanthropists and Condé Nast Traveler editors.

At Micato and our nonprofit arm, AmericaShare, we have a deep love for safari combined with a deep passion for improving the lives of underserved African women and children.  It’s been a wonderful synthesis of elements that has, indeed, made a difference.

How lovely to be acknowledged!

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National Geographic awards Micato for a “Tour of a Lifetime”

  • May 4th 2010

We’re excited that a Micato adventure in Africa has once again been chosen one of National Geographic Traveler’s Tours of a Lifetime.

This year’s selection? Our behind-the-scenes Kenyan Conservation Safari—an insider’s look at Kenyans who are at the forefront of protecting the country’s natural treasures.

On this 9-day safari, we introduce our guests to many of the heroes of Kenya’s conservation movement. These leaders range from those helping orphaned and endangered creatures—such as Dame Daphne Sheldrick, one of the world’s most respected conservationists—to those preserving ancient cultures, like Maasai elder Rakita Ole Nkere.

The safari includes on-the-ground explorations of vital agriculture conservation practices, as well as insights into the rescue and conservation work with chimpanzee and rhino populations at Ol Pejeta Conservancy. And of course, we also experience firsthand the wild wonders these people are working so hard to sustain—from the broad savannahs to the Big Five.

A particularly rewarding visit takes place at one of Nairobi’s “informal settlements” when we experience the remarkable work of Micato’s nonprofit arm, AmericaShare, in their Community Center in the Mukuru slum. It is here that—through education, community outreach and economic empowerment programs—travellers see and experience the conservation of something precious to Kenya’s orphaned and vulnerable populations:  Hope.

Of the multitude of safaris available in Africa today, we are proud to have had Micato’s Kenya Conservation Safari be among the very few selected as a National Geographic “Tour of a Lifetime.”

Read all about it!

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