Asia’s largest film tourism event – 8^th India International Film Tourism Conclave (IIFTC) honored the cult filmmaker – Zoya Akhtar with IIFTC Tourism Impact Award 2020 for her outstanding contribution to the world tourism through her cinema. The award was presented by His Worship, Mr. Naheed Nenshi – Mayor of Calgary, Alberta (Canada) at a glittering award ceremony held recently in Mumbai.

Mayor of Calgary, Canada Mr. Naheed Nenshi Pesenting Award to Bollywood Director Ms. Zoya Akhter at IIFTC Awards 2020 Ceremony held in Mumbai

While addressing the media about Zoya Akhter winning the award Harshad Bhagwat – Promoter of IIFTC Awards said, “Zoya Akhter set the trend in the film tourism space with her 2011 classic ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ shot in Spain, following it up with 2015 comedy-drama ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ shot in Turkey. She has single handedly promoted tourism of these counties through her films making her a well deserving winner.”

Another big winner at the event was, blockbuster Tamil Director, K. S. Ravikumar, who in his career spanning over 30 years has directed 43 films with starring mega stars including Sarath kumar, Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth.

The award evening also saw awards for Cinematic Excellence being presented to the makers of Professor Shanku O El Dorado (Bengali), and the Oscar Goes to (Malayalam), Amar (Kannada), Dev (Tamil), Mannadhudu 2 (Telugu), War (Hindi) and Badla (Hindi) for showcasing global locations as diverse as from Brazil to Portugal to Switzerland to Ukraine to Indian audiences.

The evening was followed by two day long business meet between over 50 international companies from 25 countries andIndian film makers. The film location promotion conclave saw participation from countries including and Portugal, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, Kenya, UK, Poland, Iceland, Mauritius Canada, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Ras Al Khaimah, Czech Republic to name a few.

About India International Film Tourism Conclave (IIFTC)

Since its inception in 2013, IIFTC’s single minded objective is to bring the global film locations to the Indian film industry. IIFTC has proved itself to be an undisputed leader in its space by hosting over 25 international events with participation from over 55 countries. Now, India’s premier locations show – IIFTC brings to you an International Marketplace for Meeting Indian Productions. Connect with the largest film industry in the world through our online and print media platforms iiftc and CinePort Magazine, where film commissions, tourism offices and production service companies from around the world can showcase locations, promote services and generate leads. IIFTC has a great potential to grow in the years to come as India is home to the world’s largest film industry, producing nearly 2000 films annually. Significant number of these films – estimated over 200 annually, are shot in foreign locations in over 65 countries, thus creating a large market of outbound film productions and positively contributing to local film Industry and tourism sector.