Kerala tourism has yet another bagged ‘Golden City Gate’ award, which is second major international award for this state in the last two months. The gold prize at ITB Berlin fair was awarded for the best print campaign on the backwaters and it won beating tough competition from the major national tourism boards in the world. This award ceremony is organized and held under the patronage of the German Federal Association of Film and Audio Visual Producers. Last year the same award was won by Malaysia, but this year it was awarded to Kerala by an International jury for the best print media on the backwaters.
This award demonstrates the importance of the state tourism as well as the significance of Kerala as a major and important travel destination in the world. A P Anil Kumar, Minister for Tourism, Government of Kerala said “We are truly honored by this remarkable recognition from the world's biggest travel trade show," Adding more to his statement, he said Kerala backwaters are the most significant tour destinations in the world and the award has added a recognition for the Kerala brand.
The prestigious award was received by Suman Billa, Secretary, Tourism, and Government of Kerala. “It is a huge achievement for Kerala and a huge reputation for the state as one of the top tourism destinations in the world,” said Suman Billa. Further he added, “The award shows the important place of our backwaters on the global tourism map,”
The print campaign was started late last year with the title ‘The Great backwaters’ and the campaign presented the backwater of Kerala as a major attraction of the state, stretching from one end of the state to the other that would provide traveler with once in a lifetime experience. This is the third National and International honor for Kerala tourism.
In January it won United Nation World Trade Organization (UNWTO) Ulysses Prize, the first prize for India in excellence and innovation in Tourism. In 12-13 it dominated National Tourism Awards and begged four prizes for excellence in Tourism.
Kerala tourism Director, S Harikishore hailed the award for an endorsement and the efforts of the department in bringing up the state tourism and its potential to the world. "It is our objective to present our distinguished visitors with the best in the world in terms of variety, originality and creativity," he added.
At ITB Berlin, Kerala stand featured the Great Backwaters, which has installation of narrow canals with waters, country boats, walking bridge, etc. The beautiful creativity of man and nature attracted thousands of tourists at the fair.
The beautiful campaign has reached out to the world and with this recognition, it is for sure to bring good number of tourists this year to this wonderful state whose beauty magnified by the glory of nature.
