Kerala’s ‘Great Backwaters’ campaign wins top award

The print campaign presents the state’s famous water bodies as a single destination and once-in-a-lifetime experience for the traveller.

By Ashraf Padanna/ThiruvananthapuramKerala Tourism has won the ITB-Berlin’s Golden City Gate gold award, dubbed the ‘Oscar of Tourism Communications,’ an official said yesterday.This is the second major international award for Kerala Tourism in the last two months.“This is a remarkable recognition from the world’s biggest travel trade show,” the state’s Tourism Minister A P Anilkumar said. “The top award for the brand Kerala demonstrates the significant place of Kerala’s beautiful backwaters among the world’s most important destinations.”Kerala Tourism won the Golden City Gate top award, the gold prize, for its print campaign called ‘Great Backwaters’, beating tough competition from major national tourism boards in the world.Presented every year at the prestigious ITB-Berlin fair, officials say these awards are considered the ultimate recognition in global tourism communication.It is the first time that Kerala Tourism has won the gold in the print category.The Kerala campaign on the backwaters presents the state’s famous water bodies as a fascinating water world, in the big league of the Great Wall of China and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.In January, Kerala Tourism won the United Nations World Trade Organisation (UNWTO) Ulysses Prize for excellence and innovation in tourism. Last month, it dominated the National Tourism Awards for 2012-13, winning four top prizes.The ‘The Great Backwaters’ campaign, launched late last year, presented the state’s backwaters, stretching from one end of Kerala to the other, as a single destination and a once-in-lifetime experience for travellers.