Vice President gives away “National Tourism Award”
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The awards were given away to the state tourism boards for their contribution in the field of development of tourism in their respective states. The function was attended by tourism ministers from the various states, senior officials from the central and state governments, corporate leaders from the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. By Pallab Ghosh
The National Tourism Awards to honour the best performers in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry during the year 2008-2009 were presented at a function held at the Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The awards were given away by the Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari. Also present on this occasion were Kumari Selja, Minister of Tourism and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation alongwith Shri Sultan Ahmed, Minister of State for Tourism, tourism ministers from the various states, senior officials from the central and state governments, corporate leaders from the travel, tourism and hospitality industry and other dignitaries.
Rajasthan State Tourism bagged the “National Tourism Award” for successfully implementing various tourism related programmes in the state. Beena Kak, Rajasthan Tourism Minister, accepted the award which contained a Trophy and a Certificate. Chokhi Dhani Resort, Jaipur was awarded the ‘Most Innovative Tourism Project”. Also Samode Haveli, Jaipur in Heritage Category and Fateh Prakash Palace Udaipur in Heritage Grant Category were awarded. Taj Hari Mahal Hotel, Jodhpur was felicitated for providing the best facilities for the “Differently Abled Guests”. Alwar Tourist Transport Service was also given first prize in the category of generating more foreign exchange earnings. The Principal Secretary and Commissioner (Tourism) of Rajasthan Smt. Usha Sharma also attended the function.
This year a new category of Awards was introduced for “Best Civic Management of a Tourist Destination in India” to encourage eco-friendly practices by various civic bodies in cities / towns / villages for the maintenance and upkeep of tourist sites / parks, etc. The Civic Management award was jointly won by Tranquebar in Tamil Nadu and Yanam in Puducherry. Vishakapatnam was also awarded a special award under this category. The idea behind this award was to recognize and involve the municipal authorities and to get their commitment towards clean, hygienic and attractive surroundings in cities/towns/villages and to thereby enhance visitor experience. Among the other states who received awards for contribution in respective state tourism are Andhra Pradesh for best tourism infrastructure, Sikkim for best state from the North East for tourism related program, Kerala for its IT initiatives, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh for their tourism collaterals and Haryana for best maintained tourism friendly monuments have also won awards in different categories. A total of 79 awards were given away during the function.
The Vice President Ansari while congratulating the award winners said that the industry has shown its resilience in these adverse circumstances and with all stakeholders working together with the active support of the Ministry of Tourism, he was confident that “Incredible India” will emerge as one of the leading tourism destinations in the world.
Speaking on the occasion, Kumari Selja said, “no compromise on the quality of facilities and services”. Government primarily plays the role of facilitator and can act as a catalyst for the development and promotion of tourism. It is the Stakeholders who are the driving force in the industry. The facilities and services provided by the travel and hospitality industry contribute to a large extent to the visitor experience.
