Apolónia Rodrigues is the founder and creator of the destination brand Dark Sky® and Dark Sky® Alqueva and President of the Rede de Turismo de Aldeia do Alentejo, Portugal. She has occupied leading roles on various EU funded projects linked to the European System of Tourism Indicators (ETIS) for sustainable practices and destination management, the Tourism Sustainability Group (TSG) that developed the Agenda for the European Sustainable and Competitive Tourism, the Eureka European Tourism Advisory Committee, and the Task Force Indicators created by the Network of European Regions for Sustainable and Competitive Tourism (NECSTouR). Apolonia has won numerous awards for her role in creating new destinations and future trends in sustainable tourism, the latest being a Tourism Oscar from the World Travel Awards as Europe´s Responsible Tourism Award in 2019.