The State Hermitage Museum: Hermitage News

The State Hermitage Receives the Order of Merit

On 20 September 2004 the Gigant-Kholp Concert Hall was the venue for a festive awards ceremony honoring organizations, institutions and outstanding individuals in the sphere of tourism and culture as well as St Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast staff in the mass media. This is the first time such an event has been held in St Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast and it was organized as part of the celebration of World Tourism Day.

At the awards ceremony an Order of Merit and Medals for Professional Services were given out in five different areas of nomination:
For Achievements in Developing Russian Tourism
For Services Aiding the Development of Russian Tourism
For an Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Russian Tourism
For Services Aiding the Preservation of Russian Culture
For Enhancing the Prestige of Russian Science

These public awards were established by the National Academy of Tourism and the Petersburg Society of Russian Culture as symbols and tokens of recognition honoring enterprises, institutions, organizations and individuals who have made a significant contribution to the theory and practice of Russian tourism and the preservation of Russian culture.

The following were recipients of the Order of Merit: the State Hermitage, the Russian Museum, the State Museum and Palace Reserves of Pavlovsk, Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo as well as the Mariinsky Theater, St Isaac’s Cathedral, and the Museum of the History of St Petersburg – Peter and Paul Fortress; the private educational institution - Baltic International Institute of Tourism and the largest tourist agencies in the city including Neva, the Council on Tourism, Prima, and Siti; and the largest hotels in the city, including the Nevsky Palace and Hotel Sovietskaya.

The Certificate of an Order of Merit
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