The Department of Tourism in Kerala has won the Golden Gate Award at the Internationale Tourismus-Borse Berlin (ITB-Berlin) - 2015, the world's largest tourism trade fair, for its popular global multimedia campaign to promote the state's backwaters.
Kerala Tourism bagged the Golden Gate Award's Silver Prize in the Mulimedia-campaign category in the German capital on Thursday night. The award was presented for The Great Backwaters campaign in the television-commercial medium.
The award was received by Kerala Tourism Secretary G Kamala Vardhana Rao and Joint Secretary in the Union Tourism Ministry Suman Billa.
Kerala Tourism Minister A P Anilkumar said the award has put Kerala on the global tourism map.
"We are honoured by the remarkable recognition for the Great Backwaters Campaign at the world's biggest travel trade event. The award shows the significance of our state on the world tourism map," he said.
"The honour in Berlin will inspire us to promote our state further across the world. Our efforts are aimed at promoting Kerala in the most creative and effective way to a larger global audience," he added.
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The Great Backwaters campaign of Kerala Tourism was notable for its use of aerial photography for the first time in the country on such a wider scale, covering the state's backwaters as a single destination. A renowned aerial photography team from Finland had conducted the photography using helicams launched from the makeshift platform of a boat to capture the beauty and essence of the vast backwaters.
Presented every year at the ITB-Berlin, Golden Gate Awards, dubbed the 'Oscar in tourism communication', are considered the ultimate recognition in global tourism communication. The awards, in its 14th year, provide worldwide attention to the tourism industry.
