Kerala Tourism’s internationally acclaimed ‘Human by Nature’ campaign has bagged the prestigious PATA Grand Award 2020 for marketing.
The award, one of the three PATA grand awards, will give a stimulus to the tourism industry in the State that is in a crisis for over six months due to the pandemic. The awards were announced at a virtual presentation ceremony in Beijing on Thursday.
The event was attended by Minister for Tourism Kadakampally Surendran; Secretary, Tourism, Rani George; Tourism Director P. Bala Kiran; PATA Chief Executive Officer Mario Hardy; and Macao Government Tourism Office Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes.
‘Human by Nature’ was a marketing strategy to revive tourism that was hit by the 2018 floods and the Nipah outbreak. Showcasing culture and daily life of the people, it was conceptualised and scripted by Stark Communications. The campaign had helped Kerala Tourism achieve record growth of 17.2% in tourism arrivals in 2019, the highest in 24 years.
“In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, we have to reboot the travel sector with focus on domestic tourism and safety at every point of destination,” the Minister said.
“Our efforts are geared towards putting in place SOPs for tourism stakeholders and be a responsible tourism destination, thereby giving tourists confidence to visit the State,” the Tourism Secretary said.
The Tourism Director said the department was trying to rejuvenate the sector by innovative business models.
The PATA Gold Awards 2020 attracted 121 entries from 62 organisations and individuals worldwide. The winners were selected by a committee of 16 personalities from various destinations.
This year’s awards recognised the achievements of three Grand title winners and 21 gold awards.
