- Goa among 18 Indian States participating along with India Tourism at ITB Berlin 2015
- Goa stalls receiving good response from travel agents around the world.
- Goa stall tastefully designed with focus on culture, cuisine, adventure tourism, eco-tourism and special events.
Goa Tourism has bagged the prestigious Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) Award for the ‘Best Wedding and Honeymoon Destination’ during ITB Berlin 2015. The award was presented at a ceremony held at the ITB venue, Messedamm, Berlin on 5th March 2015. The award was presented to Goa Tourism officials at the hands of Secretary General of United Nations World Travel Organisation (UNWTO), Mr. Taleb Rifai in presence of Mr. Sagar Ahluwalia, Secretary General PATWA.
Mr. Dilip Parulekar, Minister for Tourism, Govt. of Goa said, “I am delighted upon receiving this award which is not only very prestigious but will also help in recognition of Goa as a leading destination for high end wedding celebrations and a perfect destination to honeymoon for young couples from all over the world.”
He further added that participation in ITB Berlin has been a successful exercise and expressed optimism that this will lead to increased inflow of tourists from Europe in general and Germany in particular due to introduction of e-Visa facility for German nationals. He also expressed a deep sense of satisfaction that during his stint as tourism minister, Goa has achieved a lot in the tourism sector and Goa Tourism has been conferred with many prestigious awards which endorses all its efforts and hard work.
Mr. Nilesh Cabral, Chairman of Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) also expressed his happiness on Goa being bestowed with this award and said, “This development comes after National Geographic rated Goa as the Sixth Best Night Life Destination in the World,” and further added that participation in events like ITB can enable Goa to communicate this development to travel agents around the world which would further improve tourist inflow in Goa.
Mr. Ameya Abhyankar, the Director of Tourism, Govt. of Goa said, “The PATWA award received by Goa Tourism at the ITB Berlin 2015 is prestigious and endorses all our efforts in promoting Goa as a Wedding and Honeymoon Destination. We are working towards new tourism ventures to attract quality tourists and present attractive packages that will make celebrations and events in Goa lucrative and irresistible.”
Goa is participating in ITB Berlin 2015 with India Tourism and 18 other state tourism departments. Goa stall has been receiving very good response from travel agents around the world. Goa stall has been tastefully designed with focus on culture, cuisine, adventure tourism, eco-tourism and special events. Travel trade members from Goa who are participating include Alpha holidays, Freedom holidays, Minar Travels, De Souza Group, Alila Diwa etc.
Some of the other Indian States who participated include Kerala tourism, Telangana tourism, Karnataka tourism, Andhra tourism, Madhya Pradesh tourism, Rajasthan tourism, Tamil Nadu tourism etc.
The Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) is a professional organization of travel writers which was founded in 1998, at the Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA) Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka. PATWA’s founding philosophy is to support PATA’s primary objectives of being a catalyst for responsibly developing the travel and tourism industry in the Asia Pacific region. PATWA works with both the public and private sectors to support sustainable growth and improve quality of travel and tourism.
PATWA adheres to the fundamental principles of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations (UN), and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The ITB Berlin (Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin) is the world’s largest tourism trade fair. The companies represented at the fair include hotels, tourist boards, tour operators, system providers, airlines and car rental companies.
The thematically ordered market segments help visitors and exhibitors to quickly find their way through the wide product range of ITB Berlin: Book World, Business Travel Days, Cruises, Cultural Tourism, Economy Accommodation, e-Travel World, Adventure & Responsible Tourism, Gay & Lesbian Travel, ITB Mobile Travel Services, Training and Employment (Career Center), Travel Technology, Trends & Events, Wellness, Youth Travel.
