Kerala gets three tourism awards

India Travel
Kerala gets three tourism awards
By IANS, Jan 25, 2007 - 11:28:10 PM

New Delhi, Jan 25 - Kerala Thursday received three awards for its tourism promotion programme, including as the best tourist destination in the country.

Kerala's tourism department's project in Aranmula village - famous for its handcrafted metal mirroris - in Pathanamthitta district was awarded for the best rural tourism project in the country.

Orissa shared the award in this category for its initiative in Raghurajpur village, which has successfully preserved its heritage while promoting tourism.

Kerala was also recognised for its innovative use of information technology for tourism projects. Sikkim received the award for the best tourism project in the North East.

Distributing the awards on the occasion of National Tourism Day, Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said the United Progressive Alliance - government has recognised tourism as an industry.

She said her ministry had been working hard to get the taxation regime rationalised, which would help the industry to grow faster.

'We are trying to resolve the various troubles the industry is facing. Once the airports in Mumbai and Delhi get modernised, we would be able to introduce visa on arrival for some countries,' Soni assured.

The tourism awards have been instituted to give recognition to the travel industry for its outstanding performances, nationally, in various tourism segments, interests and also based on its revenue earnings, services and facilities.

The three new awards, which were introduced this year for the best chefs were given to Manjit Singh Gill of ITC Welcomegroup in Gurgaon -, Hemant Oberoi of Diplomatic Enclave in New Delhi - and Madhu W Krishnan of ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton in Mumbai -.

The best hotel awards went to the Oberoi Amarvilas in Agra -,Taj Residency in Bangalore -, ITC Hotel Grand Maratha Sheraton and Towers in Mumbai -, Gateway Hotel on Residency Road in Bangalore -, the Brunton Boatyard in Kochi -, the Dessert Resort-Mandawa in Rajasthan -Hotel Fifty Five -.

The Leela Palace Kempinski in Bangalore is the best eco friendly five star deluxe hotel while the Marari Beach in Kerala's Allappuzha district won a special award in the same category.