The Japan Tourism Association (JTTA), the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), and the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) recently announced the third Japan Tourism Awards. The Grand Prize went to Minamisanriku Hotel Kanyo for its "efforts to stimulate local exchanges through a storytelling bus to ensure memories of the disaster are not forgotten." This year, in honor of the United Nations' "International Year of Sustainable Tourism," the theme was "efforts to promote sustainable tourism," and a total of 239 applications were received in three categories: domestic and inbound tourism, overseas tourism, and UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization). This was a significant increase over last year's 158 applications. The awards were decided by a judging committee chaired by Yoshiaki Motobo, representative of the UNWTO Japan Office and professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University. Minamisanriku Hotel Kanyo, which won the Grand Prize, provided its facilities to victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and also operated a "storytelling bus" service immediately after the earthquake. The hotel was highly praised for its efforts to raise disaster prevention awareness by sharing its experiences with guests and to ensure memories of the earthquake are not forgotten. The hotel's proprietress, Noriko Abe, commented, "We will continue to work hard to develop the region, not only to help with the recovery from the earthquake, but also to promote tourism and revitalize the region, with the honor of winning the Grand Prize in mind." Other major awards included three winners in the domestic/inbound Japan category: Park Hotel Tokyo, Oboke-Iya Itte Miru Kai (Tokushima Prefecture), and Inakadate Village Revitalization Promotion Council (Aomori Prefecture), and the six Tohoku prefectures of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, and Fukushima, and the Tohoku Tourism Organization, which won the Special Jury Award. In the overseas category, JTB World Vacations won the Special Jury Award, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation won the Special Jury Award, and the Japan Industrial Tourism Promotion Council won the UNWTO Category Award. The Japan Tourism Awards aim to contribute to the development and expansion of the tourism industry by honoring the sustainable and outstanding efforts of organizations and companies both in Japan and overseas. The awards ceremony will be held after the opening ceremony of Tourism Expo Japan on September 21st.