Haaga-Helia's president Teemu Kokko received an honorable mention in the Helsinki Travel Awards held on Thursday. According to Kokko, the recognition came to the entire Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences community.
Haaga-Helia's president Teemu Kokko received an honorable mention in the Helsinki Travel Awards held on Thursday.
The merits of Kokko, who is born and bred in Helsinki, are his systematic, positive and stable way of developing the tourism industry and his beloved Unversity of Applied Sciences.
— I humbly accept this recognition. I feel that this is a recognition for our entire Haaga-Helia community. Our students, our staff members, and our partners, he says.
According to Kokko, tourism plays a key role in society as it makes the world smaller and increases tolerance towards other people.
— Paradoxically, we now need tourism more than ever and our big common challenge is to do it as responsibly as possible, he says.
This year, the award-winning deeds were the Helsinki Cup, the Helsinki Biennale, which brings contemporary art to Vallisaari, the Seurasaari recreation and leisure area, and the "Mitta on täysi" demonstration in the field of culture and events in front of the Parliament House.
According to the jury, all the winners represent the hope and open-mindedness that Helsinki needs right now and also in the future. The jury is also pleased with the range and number of proposals they got.
There were a record three hundred nominations for the award.
— The pandemic has clearly made the people of Helsinki aware of the importance of the city's culture, services and events, says Mikko Leisti of the Tourism Foundation, who served as chairman of the jury.
According to a survey commissioned by the Helsinki Tourism Foundation, 84% of Helsinki residents are proud that tourists want to come to Helsinki, and more than three out of four believe that tourism has a positive impact on the city's economy.
The Helsinki Travel Awards in Sofia was the seventh annual awards ceremony in a row.
