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."
