Kerala Tourism Wins Top Honours at the PATA Awards 2011.
Kerala Tourism walked away with four of the top honours at the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Awards 2011 for outstanding achievement announced in Bangkok on Thursday, February 3, 2011. Three of the awards were bagged by the State Tourism Department’s new global campaign film ‘Your Moment is Waiting’. This is the largest haul ever by any state government in the history of the PATA awards.
Calling it an unprecedented honour, Kerala’s Tourism Secretary V. Venu said that the awards were ‘recognition of the hard work by Kerala Tourism, its department, associates and its agencies in managing the Kerala brand and devising an innovative marketing strategy.’
Kerala, which is the only Indian state to have figured in this year’s PATA awards, also picked up one of the four PATA Grand awards in the environment category for its ‘Responsible Tourism’ efforts in Kumarakom. The PATA Gold award in the corporate environmental programme category for best eco-friendly practices went to Kerala’s prominent resort chain CGH Earth.
Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who also heads the Tourism Ministry apart from his responsibilities as Home Minister was philosophical, saying ‘The grand award puts an even greater responsibility on us to ensure that the achievements of responsible tourism in Kumarakom are sustained and taken to the next level to create a replicable model in tourism practices.’
Launched in September 2008, the ‘Responsible Tourism’ programme was the first such initiative by a tourism board in India. Under the project, ordinary people of Kumarakom worked with industry representatives like hotels and resorts, tour operators, travel agents, home-stay operators, souvenir shop owners, NGOs and government agencies to protect the environment in the high-profile destination.
For more information on Kerala tourism’s initiatives or for more information on the destination call the Kerala Travel Centre on Freephone 0808 178 9799 or visit www.keralatravelcentre.co.uk
