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Creating a record of sorts, Kerala Tourism bagged three national tourism awards declared for 2012-13. Most Innovative Use of Information Technology; Most Innovative Tourism Project and Best Civic Management were the ones that gave Kerala the national honours. Mr. A.P. Anilkumar, Minister for Tourism, Kerala, received the awards from the Hon’ble Minister of State for Human Resources Development Dr. Shashi Tharoor at a function held at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on 18th February.
"The awards are an honour for the State, Kerala Tourism and all its stakeholders. They are recognitions to our concerted efforts to promote sustained tourism with the help of the local community even while we make use of the advantages of technology. In the coming years we will bring more innovations and newer products and strive to remain among the leaders in tourism," said Mr. A. P. Anilkumar, Minister for Tourism.
The Most Innovative Tourism Project award was for Kochi-Muziris Biennale, while the awards in the categories of Most Innovative Use of Information Technology and Best Civic Management were for the official website of Kerala Tourism – www.keralatourism.org and the Responsible Tourism model implemented in Kumarakom respectively.
Kochi-Muziris Biennale, organized with the support of Kerala Tourism drew half a million visitors from near and far. It is for the sixth time that the official website of Kerala Tourism, rated as the best among travel websites from India has won this prestigious award. The previous occasions were in 2000-01, 2002-03, 2005-06, 2008-09 and 2010-11. As per Alexa, the internationally acclaimed web traffic monitoring agency, the website of Kerala Tourism ranks 10th among similar websites from countries in the Middle-East and the Asia-Pacific and it is ranked first in India. And the Responsible Tourism initiative in the backwater village of Kumarakom has set a model for the rest of India.
"The National Awards are a huge encouragement to Kerala Tourism’s new policy of practicing a community-involved and eco-friendly, sustainable tourism to enhance the quality of the visitor’s experience," said Mr. Suman Billa, Secretary, Kerala Tourism.
"These honours have been the result of a meaningful partnership between the public and the private sectors, along with the people of Kerala. They bestow on us further responsibility to strive harder in the future," said Mr. S. Harikishore, Director, Kerala Tourism.
Kerala’s national achievement comes as an icing on the cake following the international honour that it received in the form of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Ulysses Prize for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance. The award was for Kerala Tourism’s Responsible Tourism initiatives in Kumarakom and it was the first ever UNWTO honour for a tourism board in India.
