Encouraging it. Providing it. Testing it

WINNER
Accor, More than 4,000 hotels around the world
large chain
Hats off for courage. many travel companies don't want to talk about HIV/AIDS. But Accor, which has 111 properties in hard-hit Africa, decided that silence was wrong. Best known for its Sofitel, Novotel, Ibis, and Motel 6 brands, the global company launched an in-house educational program and started testing all of its employees for the disease. Ninety percent of the 33 million people living with HIV have not been tested, and in Africa, the stigma adds extra obstacles. Accor is trying to change that. Now, all its employees in South Africa know their status, as do more than four out of five in Burkina Faso. "I went to Cameroon and saw how close the disease is to people there. All employees have lost family and friends," says CEO Gilles Pellison, a passionate crusader. "Hotel-school training doesn't prepare you for that." Accor distributes condoms to staff and puts them in guest rooms, too. "For a hotelier, this is a daring move," says Pellison.

WHY I LOVED IT
"This company really gets it. Accor's dedication to employee education as a means of fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa shows tourism's potential to have a positive impact"
— Timothy Wirth
President, United Nations Foundation

RUNNER-UP
Hotel Grano de Oro, San José, Costa Rica
city hotel
This mansion-turned-hotel in the capital founded a refuge for poor single mothers who have been sexually abused. The home offers psychological counseling and medical treatment.

TIP
Order the Grano de Oro Pie, with layers of chocolate mousse, at the lovely courtyard restaurant. Rooms have a Spanish colonial motif (506-2255-3322; hotelgranodeoro.com; doubles, $115-$165).

AND THE JUDGES ALSO LOVED...
airline
Air New Zealand
Assists disaster relief efforts by donating up to 1,000 seats and a baggage allowance to medical supply organizations (airnewzealand.com).

cruise line
Ecoventura
Built and equipped a sign language school in the Galápagos, and pays the salaries of physical therapists on the islands (ecoventura.com ).

small resort
Bushmans Kloof
Provides HIV/AIDS testing and training for all staff members, and sponsors children to attend a leadership camp (bushmanskloof.co.za).

large resort
Puntacana
Co-manages the Rural Clinic of Veron, Dominican Republic, treating up to 70 patients a day (puntacana.com).

small chain
The Haciendas
Runs medical centers in seven communities to combat diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure (thehaciendas.com ).

tour operator
Gap Adventures
Organizes dental work in Peru, restores sight to people in Tibet, and fights child mortality in Bolivia (gapadventures.com).