Editorial: Our journey to winning AP Tourism Excellence Award

For me, a good measure of success is when random strangers tell me that they’ve read, and enjoyed, the Yo! Vizag magazine and website. As a brand that was, is and will always be dedicated to the city, many may feel that this would tie us down in terms of demographics and reach. However, I feel that it is this niche focus that has taken us forward.

Some time ago, my husband and I were at the Los Angeles Union Station while on a business trip to the USA. We had bumped into a young lad who seemed to be looking for someone to help with information. It turned out that he was Telugu, and even better, from Vizag. The cherry on the cake was that he certainly knew about Yo! Vizag. So without being humble or modest, I admit that I was really thrilled to meet this complete stranger in a foreign land, who had read our work and enjoyed our articles online. Selfishly, this was one of the best moments of my trip.

This hasn’t been a one-off incident. The Yo! team constantly keeps getting feedback on how one of the articles was circulated back to them through random friends. And how strangers they met in new cities knew about the magazine. True, Vizag is growing, and as more people notice the city, they also notice it through our lens.

And while getting out the monthly magazine with a new set of content is challenging, the daily task of getting fresh stories to the website is daunting too. Started as a simple effort to chronicle the articles that were published in the hardcopy edition, now the web has earned a place of its own. Today, it has become prerogative to update the website with news and happenings, along with presenting the culture of the city and its lifestyle.

The online portal has truly become the pulse of the city. And our efforts are paying off, as we emerged winner of the “Most Innovative Use of Information Technology / Best Tourism Website / Portal Promoting A.P.” at the Andhra Pradesh State Annual Tourism Excellence Award – 2019, recently held in Vijayawada.

This is a proud moment for all of us at Team Yo! and a milestone for many more such accolades to come. And I’d like to take this joyous opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the lovely people who have encouraged us right from day one. Your trust means a lot to us, and we hope that you will continue to support us on this journey.