Gujarat Tourism has bagged the coveted “Hall of Fame award for Best State for Comprehensive Development of Tourism” at the National Tourism Award 2016-17 function, while Madhya Pradesh Tourism won the second prize and Kerala and Goa jointly awarded the third position.
Mr. Ram Nath Kovind, President of India has distributed the National Tourism awards at Vinjan Bhavan New Delhi today ( September 27, 2017) to mark the celebration of World Tourism Day in the presence of Mr. Alsphonse Kannanthanam, Union Minister for Tourism, Govt. of India, Ms. Reshmi Verma IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Ms. Leena Nandan IAS, Addl. Secretary – Tourism and Financial Advisor, Mr. Satyajeet Rajan IAS, Director General of Tourism, Govt of India and Mr. Suman Billa IAS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism.
Kerala Tourism has also won the Hall of Fame Award in “Most Innovative Use of Information Technology” and Best Tourism Promotion Publicity Material by States / UTs category.
Andhra Pradesh Tourism has bestowed the award for Best State / Union Territory For Comprehensive Development of Tourism and Rajasthan Tourism has won second prize followed by Kerala & Goa are selected jointly for third prize.
Madhya Pradesh Tourism has adjudged the Best Film Promotion Friendly State and Best State for Adventure Tourism in the Niche Tourism segments. Kerala Tourism’s Responsible Tourism initiative at Kumarakom has once again awarded in the category of Best Responsible Tourism Project / Initiative in India, along with Sikkim Tourism for their for various Responsible Tourism initiatives in the Niche segment.
Kerala Tourism single handedly won the award for Best Tourism Promotion Publicity Material by States / UTs for their Film Tourism Brochure named “Your Next Blockbuster Destination”, and jointly bagged the Excellence in Publishing in Foreign Language other than English category with State of Telengana.
In the Classified Hotels category, the Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur and The Taj West End, Bengaluru has jointly received the award for Best Five Star Deluxe and the Trident, Gurugram for Best 5 Star Hotel while Vivanta By Taj, Kumarkom, Kerala has adjudged as best Four star hotel in the country. Best three star hotel award bestowed to Hotel Bliss Tirupati along with Fateh Prakash Palace, Udaipur in the Heritage Grand Category and Samode Haveli, Gangapole, Jaipur for Heritage Basic Category
ITC Maurya, New Delhi has won Best Eco Friendly Hotel and The Lalit, New Delhi is the winner in the category of Hotel providing best facilities for the differently abled guests
Hall of Fame award in Best Inbound Tour Operator category 1 has jointly bagged by M/s Le Passage to India Tours & Travels, New Delhi and M/s SOTC Travel Services Pvt Ltd., while Ms Travelite (India ), New Delhi won the category IV and Ms Alwar Tourist Transport Service, New Delhi in Tourist Transport Operator – Category I.
LIST OF AWARD WINNERS OF NATIONAL TOURISM AWARDS (2015-16) IN DIFFERENT CATEGORIES
Sl. No. Category Award Winner
HALL OF FAME AWARDS
1 Best State for Comprehensive Development of Tourism Gujarat
2 Best State for Comprehensive Development of Tourism Madhya Pradesh
3 Best Inbound Tour Operator – Category I M/s Le Passage to India Tours & Travels, New Delhi
4 Best Inbound Tour Operator – Category I Ms SOTC Travel Services Pvt Ltd
5 Best Inbound Tour Operator – Category IV Ms Travelite (India ), New Delhi
6 Tourist Transport Operator – Category I Ms Alwar Tourist Transport Service, New Delhi
7 Most Innovative Use of Information Technology Department of Tourism, Govt. of Kerala
TRAVEL AGENTS / INBOUND TOUR OPERATORS
Category I – Foreign Exchange Earnings of Rs. 100 crore and above
8 First Prize M/s Abercrombie & Kent India Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi
9 Second Prize M/s SDU Travels Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
Category II – Foreign Exchange Earnings of Rs. 50 crore and above but less than Rs.100 crore
10 First Prize M/s Minar Travels India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
11 Second Prize M/s Caper Travel Company Pvt Ltd, Gurgaon
Category III – Foreign Exchange Earnings of Rs. 25 crore and above but less than Rs. 50 crore
12 First Prize M/s Pettitts India Tours Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
13 Second Prize M/s GB Morrison Travel Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
Category IV – Foreign Exchange Earnings of Rs.10 crore and above but less than Rs. 25 crore
14 First Prize Amber Tours Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
15 Second Prize Periplus Travels Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
Category V – Foreign Exchange Earnings of Rs. 5 crore and above but less than Rs.10 crore
16 First Prize M/s Centre Tours & Travels, Srinagar
17 Second Prize M/s Vesna Tours Pvt Ltd , New Delhi
Category VI – Foreign Exchange Earnings of Rs.2.50 crore and above but less than Rs. 5 crore
18 First Prize M/s Special Holidays Travel Pvt Ltd
19 Second Prize M/s Worldwide Rail Journeys Pvt Ltd, Noida
DOMESTIC TOUR OPERATORS
20 Best Domestic Tour Operator (Promoting and selling the tourism products of North East Region including Sikkim) – M/s Heat Travels & Tours India Pvt Ltd, Siliguri
21 Best Domestic Tour Operator- Category I – Promoting and selling Tourism Products of the Rest of India – M/s Yatra Online Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
22 Best Domestic Tour Operator- Category II – M/s Clubside Tours & Travels Pvt Ltd, Darjeeling
TOURIST TRANSPORT OPERATORS
Category I – Turnover through tourist transport operation of Rs. 50 crore & above
23 First Prize M/s ECOS(I) Mobility & Hospitality Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
Category II – Turnover through tourist transport operation of Rs. 10 crore & above but less than Rs.50 crore
24 First Prize M/s Bala Tourist Service,Chennai
Category III – Turnover through tourist transport operation of Rs. 1 crore & above but less than Rs.10 crore
25 First Prize M/s FTT Cabs Pvt Ltd.,New Delhi
26 Second Prize M/s Panicker`s Travels India Pvt Ltd.,New Delhi
Best Adventure Tour Operator
27 Best Adventure Tour Operator – Inbound M/s Far Horizon, Faridabad
28 Best Adventure Tour Operator – Domestic M/s Clubside Tours & Travels Pvt Ltd, Kolkata
29 Best MICE Operator M/s Alpcord Network, New Delhi
30 Tour Operator promoting Niche Segments other than MICE and Adventure– M/s. Lotus Destinations Pvt. Ltd., Cochin
31 Best Tourist Guide Mr. K Kasinath Rao, Telengana
32 Best Tourist Guide (SPECIAL AWARD) Smt. Rama Khandwala,Mumbai
33 Best Wildlife Guide Mr. Saeeb Khan. Satpura National Park, Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh
AWARDS FOR PUBLICITY AND PROMOTION
Excellence in Publishing
34 Excellence in Publishing in English – Madhya Pradesh Tourism for Coffee Table Book “The Heart of Incredible India”
35 Excellence in Publishing in Hindi – Madhya Pradesh Tourism for Simhasth 2016 brochure
36 Excellence in Publishing in Foreign Language other than English (Joint Winner) –
Dept. of Tourism, Govt. of Kerala for Brochure in Spanish Language & Dept. of Tourism, Govt. of Telangana for brochure in Mandarin language
Best Tourism Film
Promotional Films on Rajasthan ,Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan
39 “Visit Mysuru” by M/s Safe Wheels Tours & Travels,Mysuru (Special Award)
40 Best Tourism Promotion Publicity Material by States / UTs – Department of Tourism, Govt of Kerala for their publication “Your Next Blockbuster Destination”, a Film Tourism Brochure
41 Most Innovative use of Information Technology – Social Media / Mobile App –
Goa Tourism Development Corporation Ltd, Panaji for their Social Media Campaign.
HOSPITALITY SEGMENT
Best Convention Centres
42 Best Hotel Based Meeting Venue – The Ashok, New Delhi
43 Best Stand Alone Convention Centre – Leonia International Centre for Exhibitions & Conventions, Hyderabad
44 Best Stand Alone Restaurant – Khyber Restaurant, Mumbai
Best Chefs
45 In 4 star, 5 star, 5 star Deluxe, Heritage Classic & Grand category Hotels – Mr. Arvind Rai, The Ashok Hotel, New Delhi
46 Best Lady Chef – Ms. Madhumita Mohanta, Executive Chef, The Lalit Great Eastern, Kolkata
47 Incredible India Bed & Breakfast Establishments – Approved by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India – House of Kapaali, Greater Noida
CLASSIFIED HOTELS
48 Best Eco Friendly Hotel – ITC Maurya, New Delhi
49 Hotel providing best facilities for the differently abled guests – The Lalit, New Delhi
50 Best Heritage Hotels- Basic Category – Samode Haveli, Gangapole, Jaipur
51 Best Heritage Hotels – Grand Category – Fateh Prakash Palace, Udaipur
52 Best 3 Star Hotel – Hotel Bliss, Tirupati
53 Best 4 Star Hotel – Vivanta By Taj, Kumarkom, Kerala
54 Best 5 Star Hotel – Trident, Gurugram
55 5 Star Deluxe(Joint Winners) – The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur & The Taj West End, Bengaluru
NICHE TOURISM AWARDS
57 Most Innovative & Unique Tourism Product – Hanuwantiya and Jal Mahotsav. Madhya Pradesh Tourism
58 Responsible Tourism Project / Initiative ( Joint winners ) – Sikkim for various Responsible Tourism initiatives & Department of Tourism, Govt. of Kerala for Responsible Tourism in Kumarakom
60 Tourism Friendly Golf Course – Jaypee Green Golf Course, Greater Noida
61 Best Wellness Centre – Somatheeram Research Institute & Ayurveda Hospital Pvt. Ltd, Kerala
62 Medical Tourism Facility – Apollo Health City, Hyderabad
63 Best Film Promotion Friendly State – Madhya Pradesh
64 Best State for Adventure Tourism – Madhya Pradesh
OTHER CATEGORIES
65. Best Airport – Class X Cities – Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, Maharashtra
66 Best Airport- Other Cities (Joint Winners) – Srinagar International Airport, Srinagar, J&K
And Swami Vivekananda Airport, Raipur
68 Best Tourist Friendly Railway Station – Ujjain Railway Station, Madhya Pradesh
69 Best Heritage Walk – Leading from the Front: Being Gandhi – Gandhi Tour – By India City Walks
70 Best Heritage City (Joint Winners) – Warangal, Telangana & Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh
72 Best Maintained and Differently Abled Friendly Monument – Chaowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad, Telangana
73 Civic Management of a Tourist Destination Category A – Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation(GHMC)
74 Civic Management of a Tourist Destination Category B – Khargone, Madhya Pradesh
75 Civic Management of a Tourist Destination Category C – Sarovaram Bio Park, Kerala
76 Swachhta Award – Government of Telangana
Best State / Union Territory For Comprehensive Development of Tourism
77 Third Prize (Joint Winners) – Kerala & Goa
79 Second Prize – Rajasthan
80 First Prize – Andhra Pradesh