Mongolia received Golden City Gate First Star Award for ‘Welcome to Mongolia’ video at ITB Berlin

Ms. M. Navchaa and
Mr. Tuguldur Baajiikhuu,
Director – Greater Tumen
 Initiative Secretaria

The Golden City Gate Awards has been awarded for 18 years during ITB Berlin, providing worldwide attention to the art and media production of the tourism industry. The award is the world's largest in film, print, and multimedia competition.

All eligible artworks are judged by an international jury based on a predetermined point system. All media submissions had to be themed in tourism practice and/or activity to be eligible. Each category

bestowed gold, silver, and bronze prizes, however, the top media contribution from all submissions was granted the prestigious 'Diamond Award' at the end of the event.

Since the competition's inception in 2001, 1,720 posts from 42 countries have been submitted and evaluated by 40 international jurors. For the 2019 Golden City Gate edition, over 100 entries from 21 countries have been submitted.

Mongolia was awarded a highly coveted ‘First Star’ award for its music clip submission titled 'Welcome to Mongolia'. Performed by local icon 'Myagmar' with his notably strong and deep voice, the five-minute-long music clip takes viewers through a tour of Mongolia, presenting not only landscapes, tourism activities and nomadic life but also the vibrancy of Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar. The clip has been viewed by over 10,000 people on YouTube and it is likely that this award will widen its online exposure.

What to know:

* The first song was written in English about Mongolia

* Written by M. Navchaa, the song tells a story about the landscapes of Mongolia -- from the Gobi Desert and the steppes to the mountain range Mongolia's western region.

* The accompanying video shows different landscapes and modes of travel guests can experience in Mongolia throughout the country's four seasons.

* Myagmar wanted to add a song about Mongolia to his new album

* The song is now identified as Tsolmon Travel's theme

* 'Welcome to Mongolia' was produced by Cross Animation Studio

The song's composer M. Navchaa said “I wanted to create a theme for my company Tsolmon Travel and was approached by Mr. Myagmar, who wanted to create a song about Mongolia. I am very happy to have received this wonderful award for this partnership and invite everyone to watch the video and come and experience Mongolia”

“We are delighted to receive the Golden City Gate Award's First Star prize. It will help bring awareness from the world to our beautiful country. Our aim is to highlight Mongolia's extraordinary diversity to the largest audience possible,” declared Mongolia Minister of Environment and Tourism Namsrai Tserenbat at ITB Berlin.

“This award is very aligned with the re-launch of the Mongolia.travel platform as a travel inspirational storytelling platform. Video content like the 'Welcome to Mongolia' video, generated through the private sector, plays an important role in promoting Mongolia in an authentic way,” added Mr. Tuguldur Baajiikhuu, Director – Greater Tumen Initiative Secretariat.

During ITB Berlin 2019, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Mongolia took the opportunity to introduce its new Mongolia tourism platform Mongolia.travel, an interactive tool aimed to help 2ravelers to design their own itineraries in the country according to their own wishes. The Mongolia platform is also a tool for local travel companies to highlight their products and activities.