Skål International World Congress 2022: Recognitions and Awards
Skål International is delighted to share all the recognitions and awards presented during the Opening Ceremony of the Skål International World Congress, held on Friday 14 October 2022 in Rijeka, Kvarner Region, Croatia.
Sustainable Tourism Awards
This year, a total of 50 entrants from 23 countries worldwide have met the requirements and competed in the nine available categories.
This highlight event that has gathered over 320 travel executives from all over the world and important authorities of Croatia, the Kvarner region and also Opatija and Rijeka, as well as Skål International, has been honoured with the prestigious presence of Mr. Ion Vilcu, Director of Affiliate Members Department at the U.N. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
with Skål International President Burcin Turkkan and Interim Vice President Hulya Aslantas.
Skål International Club of the Year Award
In this still challenging year, 14 clubs out of the 21 that met the eligibility criteria, accepted the invitation to participate in this competition.
Congratulations to all the eligible clubs for their great performance despite the complicated situation some of them are still experiencing!
Eligible Clubs worldwide and an Executive Board panel of judges formed by Directors Marja Eela-Kaskinen and Annette Cardenas and CEO Daniela Otero were invited to cast their vote.
The Skål International club ranked in third place for having received the third highest number of votes is Skål International Hyderabad, India.
The Skål International Club ranked in second place is Skål International Antalya, Turkey.
And the Skål International Club that has received the highest number of votes and is declared Skål Club of the Year 2021-2022 is Skål International Melbourne, Australia.
Membership Development Campaign Awards
Skål International has maintained 100% of its membership and is on target to reach our forecast of 13,000 members for 2022. Congratulations to the Top 6 clubs that have achieved the top Membership Growth! There are 2 Awards in each category of Silver, Gold and Platinum, for the top three clubs getting the highest increase:
Silver Awards
Net increase winner:
Skål International Kolkata, India
Percentace increase winner:
Skål International St. Gallen, Switzerland
Gold Awards
Net increase winner:
Skål International Bombay, India
Percentace increase winner:
Skål International Arkansas, USA
Platinum Awards
Net increase winner:
Skål International Côte D’Azur, France
Percentace increase winner:
Skål International Merida, Mexico
Presidential Recognitions and Awards
The following awards and recognitions were presented by President Burcin Turkkan:
Presentation of Trophies to Committees’ Chairmen
Governance
Franz Heffeter (Europe)
Jean-François Côté (Americas)
Holly Powers (Americas)
Statutes/By-laws
Salih Cene (Europe)
Mok Singh (Americas)
Advocacy & Global Partnership
Olukemi Soetan (Africa)
Steve Richer (Americas)
Training & Education
Paul Durand (Americas)
Lavonne Wittmann (Africa)
Membership Development
Trish May (Oceania)
- Denis Smith (Americas)
Technology
Enrique Flores (Americas)
Ugursal Ugur (Europe)
Media & Public Relations
Jürgen Steinmetz (Europe)
Frank Legrand (Americas)
Fundraising Committee
Anurag Gupta (Asia)
Deniz Anapa (Europe)
Committees’ members
The President of Skål International acknowledged all the members of the 8 working committees set up in January 2022, who had been working tirelessly throughout the year to bring improvements and recommendations to the organisation.
Rising Skål International Leaders
In recognition of their contributions to Skål International Movement as the rising future leaders to take the organization to next levels.
Altan Demirkaya (Vancouver, Canada)
Nuria Flores Gonzalez (Puerto Vallarta-Riviera Nayarit, Mexico)
David Fontanella (Genève, Switzerland)
Tara Strickland (Melbourne, Australia)
James Cheng (Taipei, Taiwan)
Tamara Cerneka (Kvarner, Croatia)
Tania Imani (Orlando, U.S.A.)
Maria del Pilar Salas Moreno (Cusco, Peru)
Johannes Jungwirth (Bonn, Germany)
Irena Persic-Zivadinov (Kvarner, Croatia)
Skålleague of the Year
In appreciation of his service and efforts in the promotion of Skål International: Carl Vaz (Bombay, India).