Madhya Pradesh And Kerala Got Big Winner At The National Tourism Awards

Among the big winners in this year's edition of the awards were Kerala Tourism and Madhya Pradesh Tourism in particular.

 

 

Madhya Pradesh won the first prize in the category of Best State/Union Territory for Comprehensive Development of Tourism for being able to provide a complete and varied travel experience to tourists. The official awarding criteria by Ministry of Tourism stated, "With emphasis on better infrastructure especially in the field of power and roads, destinations in MP have become more accessible and tourist friendly.

 The state is aware of the employment generation potential of the tourism sector and pays special attention to training programs. Further, the aggressive and innovative branding campaigns make Madhya Pradesh the desire of every travel lover across the globe."

Having known that, take a look at Madhya Pradesh Tourism's latest ad campaign:

The second and third prize in this category were bagged by the state tourism boards of Gujarat and Karnataka respectively.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism was also among awards in other categories with the Heritage Walk of Bhopal winning the Best Heritage Walk award along with India City Walks for the Built Legacy of Mughals (Old Delhi Heritage Walk) being the joint winner in this category. Apart from this, the monuments of Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh won the award for being the Best Maintained and Disabled Friendly Monument.

Another interesting award winner from the state of Madhya Pradesh is Art Ichol, a destination that serves as a platform for creative individuals to create, share and promote their works of art in a picturesque environment, which won the award for being the Best Innovative/Unique Tourism Project. This video shows a sneak peek into the project:

Kerala Tourism, on the other hand, won as many as six awards in the marketing category for states. Three out of the six awards the tourism board received were for states in the Tourism Promotion and Publishing category, including the one for 'Most Innovative use of Information Technology' - social media/mobile app. The Wayanad initiative, which has transformed the hilly district's economy through intensive participation of the local people, was selected for the award in the 'Responsible Tourism' category.

Sargaalaya Arts and Crafts Village at Iringal, a small but thriving village in Kozhikode, fetched the award for Kerala Tourism in the Rural Tourism project category.

"The awards are a heartening and robust reaffirmation of our Responsible Tourism initiative, which has emerged as a trailblazing tourism product for the entire country. We also received three national awards for our brilliant marketing initiatives which are designed to woo travellers from both inside the country and abroad," Kerala Tourism Minister A C Moideen said in a press release.

Kerala Tourism Director U V Jose said the national awards have come in the wake of Kerala Tourism winning two PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) Gold Awards for its brilliant marketing initiatives.

Kerala and the Spice Routes, a coffee-table book designed by Stark, won the award in the category of Excellence in Publishing in English language.

The book takes readers through the Malabar Coast that was the starting point for Kerala's spice trade with the rest of the world.

 'The Great Backwaters', a brochure in German language, details out the unique, standalone and once-in-a-lifetime experience of the Kerala backwaters to the international travellers, was adjudged the best in foreign language segment.

The third award for Kerala Tourism in 'Tourism Promotion and Publishing' category came for its most innovative use of information technology for the website designed by Invis Multimedia and social media managed by Stark Communications.

Kerala Tourism has 12.8 lakh Facebook followers, the largest figure for any Tourism Board in India. Turtle on the Beach, Kovalam, was the adjudged the best hotel in the Five Star category; Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom, bagged the award for Best Heritage Hotel in Classic Category; Coconut Creek Farm and Homestay, Kumarakom, was given the award for 'Best Incredible India Bed and Breakfast Establishment' approved by State Governments / Union Territory Administrations' and Somatheeram Research Institute and Ayurveda Hospital Pvt Ltd, Thiruvananthapuram, was declared the Best Wellness Centre.

Interestingly, Yes Bank Limited was also among the award winners in this year's edition. The bank won the award in the Most Responsible Tourism Project/Initiative category for its Edge of India initiative, which focuses on developing cooperative tourism models to ensure livelihood security of local communities.

The project has been carried out in four villages--Bageshwar, Ranikhet and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand and Purulia in West Bengal. The Project helps to realize the potential of heritage and set up tourism businesses through a cooperative model to ensure that the benefits percolate to the entire community. The communities get trained and assisted in creating a self-sustaining tourism business model.

On receiving the award, Rana Kapoor, Managing Director & CEO, Yes Bank said, "Yes Bank is honored to be the first Bank to receive the prestigious National Tourism Award from the Government of India, for its unique 'Edge of India' initiative which is focused on developing cooperative tourism models to ensure livelihood security of local communities. This significant national recognition further inspires us to continue working closely with the Government, industry, local communities and all stakeholders in the Tourism value chain to create an enabling policy environment to fully unlock India's Global Potential in Tourism - an engine of economic growth and job creation."