Kerala Tourism wrapped itself in glory as its internationally-acclaimed ‘Human by Nature’ campaign on September 24 bagged the prestigious PATA Grand Award 2020 for Marketing, giving a huge stimulus to tourism industry in the State that is grappling with the adverse aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The icing on the cake for Kerala Tourism is that it has bagged one of the three PATA Grand Awards, which were announced live during a virtual presentation ceremony in Beijing.

The distant event was attended by Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, Tourism Secretary Rani George; Tourism Director P. Bala Kiran; PATA Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mario Hardy; and Macao Government Tourism Office (MGT) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes.

It was for the first time that this year’s PATA Gold Awards, supported and sponsored by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), were announced virtual since its inception in 1995. This year’s awards recognised the achievements of three Grand title winners and 21 Gold Awards.

Expressing happiness over winning the top award, Mr. Surendran said ‘Human by Nature’ was a brilliant marketing strategy to revive tourism that had suffered a severe knocking in the wake of the 2018 floods and the outbreak of the Nipah virus.

The idea of a new campaign showcasing the culture and daily life of the people of Kerala put forth by Kerala Tourism was conceptualised and scripted by Stark Communications.

The campaign which was carried out in national and international channels, newspapers, magazines, portals and airport displays in key cities helped in achieving Kerala’s record growth rate of 17.2 per cent in 2019, the highest growth rate in tourism arrivals in 24 years.

“I believe the latest award would provide a huge stimulus to the state’s ongoing efforts to rev up our tourism sector through innovative means as it is the mainstay of Kerala’s economy and contributes around 10 per cent of the state’s GDP. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to reboot the travel sector with focus on domestic tourism and safety at every point of destination,” the minister said.

Mrs. George said: “The PATA Grand Award is a huge affirmation of the creative brilliance of our marketing campaigns and it shows that the Human by Nature campaign has struck the right note with global travellers.’’

“Right now we are in the process of supporting the tourism sector with revival package schemes. Our efforts are also geared towards putting in place SOPs for the tourism stakeholders and be a responsible tourism destination, thereby giving the tourists confidence to visit the State,” she said.

Mr. Bala Kiran said, “We are trying to rejuvenate our tourism sector by innovative business models that would create reassurance for travellers and ensure a responsible and sustainable tourism industry. We need to win the trust of travellers. That is going to be the cardinal driving force for tourism industry in the state.”

The PATA Gold Awards 2020 attracted 121 entries from 62 organisations and individuals worldwide. The winners were selected by an independent judging committee of 16 personalities from various destinations.

Overall, PATA 2020 presented 21 Gold Awards and three Grand Title Winners for best of show entries in the categories of Marketing, Sustainability and Human Capital Development. This year, PATA enhanced the Gold Awards by introducing several new categories in order to reinforce its position as an innovative and prestigious award for the Asia Pacific travel and tourism industry. New categories included Climate Change Initiative, Tourism for All, and Youth Empowerment Initiative.

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India has tightened visa rules to keep a check on the entry of people associated with China’s “growing outreach network” comprising think-tanks, cultural and trade organisations, public policy groups and academics. A list of such organisations has been drafted on the basis of reports by intelligence agencies.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been asked to inform missions abroad that visas sponsored by some of the organisations under the intelligence radar will only be issued after security clearance.

“In order to closely monitor activities in India, visas sponsored by entities of concern shall require a prior security clearance. MEA may therefore appropriately sensitise mission abroad regarding requirements of prior security clearance granting a visa,” communication in this regard says. The note goes on to add that the Chinese government has developed an outreach system comprising think tanks all over the world with an objective to influence sections in countries on strategic interest.

Many of these organisations are based in India but backed by China and regularly sponsor visas for policymakers, think tanks, political parties, upcoming leaders, corporate firms, academics and research entities, etc. Sources say it that some of these individuals have been suspected of indulging in espionage.

The communication was circulated in July amid the India-China border tussle in eastern Ladakh. This move concerning visas comes in the wake of the Government of India banning Chinese mobile apps, including TikTok.
Some of these think tanks are an important component of China’s soft power and claim to have activists, scholars and representatives from all walks of life as members. Their goal is to influence policy decisions in targeted countries.

Meanwhile, India and China continue to remain in a military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh where the status quo was changed by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in May of this year. While tensions have de-escalated at friction points, complete disengagement is yet to be achieved despite continuous military and diplomatic dialogue.

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Some of the greatest works of this century that have been realised in modern material defy the laws of physics, and beauty too. While some buildings are associated with the architect who brought it to life, others are often unique to the country and milieu where it is situated paying tributes to a bygone culture or civilisation. Here we feature some of the modern works of architecture from across the world.

Burj Khalifa,
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Rising a dizzying 2,717 feet above the desert, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates featured as our opening photograph, is a spectacular super tower that reigns as the tallest structure in the world. Its 162 floors contain offices, residences, restaurants, an Armani hotel, and an observation deck, 124 stories up. The strength of its design stems not only from its awe-inspiring verticality but also from its sleek silhouette. Wrapped in a glass curtain wall with steel mullions that catch the Arabian sun, the building tapers gradually from its Y-shaped base, with setbacks culminating in a 700-foot spire.

Gardens by the Bay,
Singapore

Side-by-side parabolic conservatories of glass and steel anchor this cutting-edge botanical garden, Gardens by the Bay, in Singapore’s booming Marina Bay district. Named the 2012 building of the year by the World Architecture Festival, the Wilkinson Eyre–designed structures replicate distinct climates—one dry, the other humid—allowing for diverse attractions like a flower meadow and a misty mountain forest.

Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre,
ReykjavÍk, Iceland

Even before its official opening, Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre breathed new life into the Icelandic capital’s once-sleepy harbour, captivating local people and luring visitors with its kaleidoscopic façade of multi-colour glass. The crystalline shell, conceived by artist Olafur Eliasson, complements the structure’s aggregate of jagged, geometric volumes. At night, exterior LED strips activate, transforming the waterfront landmark into a shimmering beacon of beauty.

Linked Hybrid,
Beijing

Composed of eight connected towers, Linked Hybrid in Beijing is a mixed-use complex representing a compelling vision for 21st-century urban development. To combat the isolation often associated with luxury residential buildings and gated communities, the architects placed wide, open passages at ground level, ushering pedestrians into a series of public spaces that include gardens, shops, restaurants, and schools.

The Shard,
London

Familiar to watchers of last summer’s Olympic Games, The Shard. London is a 72-story skyscraper — the tallest in Western Europe — that transformed the UK capital’s skyline, rising on the southern banks of the Thames. Inspired by church steeples, the structure comprises eight angled glass façades that reflect the surrounding city and sky and offer glimpses inside. Intended by Renzo Piano Building Workshop to act as a vertical village, the multifunctional building includes offices, apartments, restaurants, and a hotel—all crowned by a recently opened observation platform, which affords stunning views in every direction.

Perot Museum of Nature and Science
Dallas, Texas, United States
Architect Thom Mayne, the Pritzker Prize–winning founder of Morphosis, is famous for breaking the mould, and his latest building is no exception. Sheathed in panels of textured concrete, Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas consists of a five-story cube, fractured at one corner and set atop a sweeping plinth planted with Texas grasses. Slashed across the cube’s exterior is a dramatic glass-enclosed escalator, which whisks visitors to the top-floor entrance to the exhibits.

Parrish Art Museum,
Water Mill, New York

Topped by a double-gable roof of white corrugated metal, the Parrish Art Museum’s strikingly horizontal new home in New York melds brilliantly with its setting, nodding in form to both the traditional barns and the cottagelike artist studios that have long been associated with Long Island’s East End. Inside the poured-concrete structure—devised by architect Ascan Mergenthaler, a senior partner at the Swiss firm—inviting galleries joined by a central spine are warmed by natural-wood ceilings and abundant skylights.

Guangzhou Opera House,
Guangzhou, China

Zaha Hadid’s Opera House for the southern industrial city of Guangzhou is a testimony to the British Iraqi architect’s aesthetics. The venue consists of two dynamic fluid-form structures, the larger housing an undulating, gilded 1,800-seat hall and the smaller home to a more intimate 400-seat space. The buildings are clad in great expanses of steel-framed glass and granite panels—the complexity of which led to challenges during construction and in ongoing maintenance. But the futuristic complex is an emphatic statement on the ambitions of 21st-century China.

Metropol Parasol,
Seville, Spain

When excavation for a parking garage unearthed Roman artifacts in Seville’s Plaza de la Encarnación, city officials opted to commission a welcoming landmark called Metropol Parasol instead. Some 90 feet high and nearly 500 feet long, the billowing timber pavilion is part pergola, part urban parlor. Viewing platforms are perched atop the organic forms, which also shelter restaurants and an archaeological museum.

Absolute World,
Mississauga, Ontario

Absolute World, Mississauga, Ontario, consists of residential high-rises that strike a unique profile in Toronto’s largest suburb. With continuous balconies and elliptical floor plans, the 50- and 56-story skyscrapers appear to shimmy and twist, each around its own axis.
Such creative formmaking is the focus of the young Beijing firm, whose design was executed in coordination with Burka Architects. The Absolute towers offer a refreshing take on a familiar building type.

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The U.S. will impose visa restrictions on Chinese officials who backed Hong Kong legislation. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on June 26 that the sanctions targeted current and former party officials who are responsible for undermining freedoms in Hong Kong. But he did not disclose the name of the Chinese officials. Pompeo noted that the latest move followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s promise to punish Beijing over a proposed security law that could take away Hong Kong’s autonomy.

Calling the U.S. decision a “mistake”, Chinese embassy in Washington said that the move should be withdrawn immediately and US should stop interfering in China’s domestic affairs.

This comes a few days ahead of a meeting of Chinese Parliament. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress will discuss the new law at its meeting, starting Sunday.

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