Kerala Tourism has won top honours in two categories at the annual Outlook Traveller Awards for 2012. The State won the ‘favourite winter destination’ prize and the ‘favourite beach destination’ award for Kovalam.Kerala Tourism was the only State tourism board other than Jammu and Kashmir’s to pick up two awards at the event held in New Delhi last week.Suman Billa, Secretary, Kerala Tourism, received the awards at the presentation ceremony at The Suryaa hotel on January 24.Now in its sixth year, Outlook Traveller (magazine) Awards are a coveted recognition of excellence in the travel industry in India. These are announced after a survey of preferred travel destinations and services among readers, an official said.
Outlook Traveller Awards are considered an authoritative benchmark of consumer preferences in travel and tourism. Conducted by IPSOS Pvt Ltd, the survey for 2012 polled readers through the magazine and the Outlook Traveller Web site.“It is a huge honor to win the highest two prizes from Outlook Traveller,” said A. P. Anil Kumar, Minister for Tourism, Kerala.Secretary Billa said that the awards recognised the State’s leading role in the travel and tourism sectors.The recognition would not have bee possible had it not been for the successful partnership with the private sector and other stakeholders, said Rani George, director, Kerala Tourism.
2012 AWARDS
In December 2012, Kerala had won the Conde Nast Travel Award for ‘Excellence in taking brand India global.’During the same month, the State edged out the Taj Mahal to become the number one travel destination in the Google search trends for India in 2012.Hill destination Munnar was on the list of top 10 Indian destinations on Google’s Zeitgiest site showing search trends from around the world.Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/travel/kerala-tourism-wins-top-outlook-traveller-awards/article4375350.ece
