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Kerala Tourism’s E-Newsletter, which pioneered the use of internet technology in India’s travel and tourism industry, has won the prestigious Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Award for this year.
Kerala Tourism, among only the 22 winners of the PATA Awards 2013, was chosen from 165 entries worldwide comprising 60 organisations and individuals, for the award in the Marketing Media category.
This is the second time that the Kerala Tourism’s E-Newsletter, developed by Invis Multimedia, has won the PATA Gold Award. Earlier, it had won the award in 2005.
Supported and sponsored by the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), the PATA awards recognize innovation and excellence in the travel and tourism industry.
The awards will be presented at a gala ceremony to be held in the south-west Chinese city of Chengdu on September 15. The award presentation ceremony is expected to attract more than 500 tourism and travel industry executives from across the world.
Kerala Tourism is the first tourism board in India to reach out to a global population taking advantage of the internet technology. Launched as early as in 1998, the E-Newsletter of Kerala Tourism is one of the most popular travel and tourism newsletters in the world with about 90,000 subscribers. In its two main sections, titled Newsbytes and Enchanting Kerala, the monthly E-Newsletter carries updates on tourism developments, and features places of interests, upcoming festivals, events in the fields of art, culture, music, and literature and even interviews with travellers.
“We are truly honoured to receive this important award,” said Mr. A. P. Anilkumar, Minister for Tourism, Kerala. “It is a recognition of our efforts to take the brand of Kerala to a wider audience around the world by informing them about the best of what the state has to offer. Our E-Newsletter is a visitor-friendly and reader-friendly platform that is completely transparent and useful to travellers,” he added.
PATA CEO Mr. Martin J. Craigs said the judges of this year’s awards were “most impressed” with the quality of entry of Kerala Tourism.
“Kerala Tourism has always embraced the benefits offered by the modern technology to aid a traveller thereby making her or his visit to the state a pleasant experience,” said Mr. Suman Billa, Secretary, Kerala Tourism. ”Our E-Newsletters inform not only about the destinations or how to reach there, but also about what festivals are in the offing or which handicraft to look for. The newsletters help a visitor, a potential visitor or even a common person wanting to know more about Kerala,” he added.
Mr. S. Harikishore, Director, Kerala Tourism described the award as “an honour that will inspire us to work more towards achieving higher goals for the state”. “It is a matter of pride that Kerala Tourism is a pioneer in the innovative use of technology in the country’s tourism and travel industry. In this age of Information Technology, our efforts will be in continuing to help visitors to our state from within India and abroad become aware of the latest developments in the tourism sector in Kerala,” he added.
MGTO Director Ms. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said the winners of the PATA Gold Awards for 2013 reveals the “great dynamism of the Asia Pacific travel and tourism industry”.
