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For Kerala Tourism, the year 2014 began with accolades. And the trend continues to be so with the most recent one being the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Awards. Kerala Tourism's e-Newsletter and the Responsible Tourism initiative at Kumarakom were the ones that won this prestigious award in the categories for Marketing Media and Corporate Social Responsibility respectively.
“A remarkable achievement for Kerala; we are proud of this top international honour, which will inspire us to continue with our efforts in rural tourism development and also take the brand of Kerala far and wide. Through the Kumarakom model, we have shown the world that it is possible to successfully link the local community with the hospitality industry and various government departments for empowering the people and developing an area while sustaining eco-friendly tourism,” said Mr. A.P. Anilkumar, Minister for Tourism, Kerala.
“We were lucky to be the first Tourism Board in the country to take advantage of the internet technology to reach a global audience,” said Mr. Suman Billa, Secretary, Kerala Tourism.
This is the second consecutive PATA Gold Award for the e-Newsletter from Kerala Tourism. Making its debut in 1998, the e-Newsletter developed and designed by Invis Multimedia has now become one of the popular travel and tourism newsletters in the travel world. Its subscribers include international and domestic travellers, journalists, travel writers and tour operators.
The Responsible Tourism initiative launched in 2008 in the backwater village of Kumarakom in Kottayam District, involves the local self-government (grama panchayat), the Kudumbasree, the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC), the local hospitality industry and the government departments of Agriculture and Health to fulfill social, economic and environmental responsibilities of tourism.
The PATA Gold Awards recognize exceptional achievement in a variety of endeavours, bringing acclaim to the best that the region’s travel industry offers. The award winning projects set industry standards for excellence and innovation.
