Bratislava (source: SME)
The city of Bratislava has received the Golden Apple award in the ‘destinations’ category from the World Federation of Travel Journalists and Writers (FIJET). The prize is tourism’s equivalent to the Academy Awards, which salute excellence in the film industry.
“This [Golden Apple] award is granted to a destination that represents a crossroads of history, culture and experience,” said Ľudmila Novacká, FIJET Slovakia's president, at the award ceremony on June 1, as cited by the TASR newswire.
Bratislava has been added to the list of over 40 cities including Krakow, Moscow, Antwerp and Dubrovnik, that have received the accolade since 1970.
Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Ministry State Secretary Lukáš Parízek, said that the award represents another impetus to the development of tourism in Bratislava.
“Bratislava is making it onto the global map of trends in tourism,” said Parízek.
Peter Ďurček, state secretary at the Transport and Construction Ministry, which has authority over the tourism sector, noted that Bratislava is the first Slovak city or town to receive the Golden Apple.
“Bratislava is bringing healthy leadership to tourism for our country and I believe that other regions will take their cue from it,” said Ďurček.
Bratislava deputy mayor Ľudmila Farkašovská believes that the award is also a reflection of the increasing interest of travellers in the Slovak capital. She noted that over 1.2 million people visited the city in 2016 after the one-million mark was topped the year before that.
“These excellent figures also indicate that Bratislava is indeed a ‘Little Big City’ that can offer a lot from a limited area, ranging from history, culture to beautiful nature, experiences providing an adrenaline rush, and social events,” said Farkašovská.
A number of foreign journalists also attended the award ceremony and they will explore the city and its environs over the next three days.
“We believe that their stay will further contribute to the promotion of Bratislava abroad,” said Alžbeta Melicharová of the Bratislava Tourist Board.
