Tourism News
Tourism ‘Oscar’ for 'Great Backwaters' Campaign
Kerala Tourism was honoured with the Golden City Gate Gold Award, considered as the ‘Oscar’ of Tourism Communications during the recently held ITB-Berlin, the world’s largest travel-trade fair held in Germany. This is the second major international award for Kerala Tourism in a span of two months.
Kerala Tourism won the Golden City Gate Gold Award for its print campaign on backwaters, edging out heavy weights like the Great Wall of China and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.
Presented every year during the prestigious ITB-Berlin travel-trade fair, the Das Golden Stattdor or the Golden City Gate Awards are considered the ultimate recognition in global tourism communication. The awards are given under the patronage of the German Federal Association of Film and Audio-Visual Producers. It is the first time that Kerala Tourism has won the gold award in the print category.
"We are truly honoured by this remarkable recognition from the world's biggest travel-trade show. It demonstrates the significant place of Kerala’s beautiful backwaters among the most important destinations in the world. This is recognition for the Kerala brand," said Mr. A. P. Anilkumar, Minister for Tourism.
The print campaign of Kerala Tourism titled 'The Great Backwaters' was launched late last year. The campaign presented the backwaters of Kerala, stretching from one end of the State to the other, as a single destination and once-in-a-lifetime experience for the traveller. The National Geographic Traveller rated Kerala's backwaters 60th among 133 great destinations around the globe.
"It is a huge achievement for Kerala and a major boost to the State's reputation as one of the top tourist destinations in the world. The award shows the appeal of our backwaters on the global tourism map," said Mr. Suman Billa, Secretary, Kerala Tourism.
"The award is an endorsement of the continuing efforts of the tourism department in showcasing the vast tourism potential of Kerala. It is our objective to present our distinguished visitors with the best in the world in terms of variety, originality and creativity," said Mr. S. Harikishore, Director, Kerala Tourism.
The Kerala Tourism stall at the ITB-Berlin this year was based on the Great Backwaters campaign theme. The delegation from Kerala was led by Mr. Suman Billa that comprised 19 co-exhibitors from Kerala.
