The ministry of tourism held its annual National Tourism Award ceremony where the state of Maharashtra was Awarded with the runner-up award in the category of the best state for Comprehensive Tourism Development along with 9 more honours in various other categories on 27th September. The award marked a pivotal moment in history as it became Maharashtra’s first-ever award for the category of Comprehensive Tourism Development.
The award was collected by the Joint Director of Maharashtra Tourism, Dr. Dhananjay Sawalkar, and was given by Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankar, at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. The Tourism Minister, G. Kishan Reddy, and Ministry of Tourism secretary, Arvind Singh, were also present during the ceremony.
The ministry of tourism organizes a National tourism Award annually where different states are honoured with awards for different categories. For various other categories, the State Tourism Dept. had encouraged and recommended our stakeholders to fill application in respective categories, based on their specialty. To filter the applications and file the final nominations, the department had formed a committee of Expert stakeholders. Due to their efforts and determination of the stakeholders, 8 stakeholders in different categories received the prestigious national awards. Maharashtra has received a total number of 9 awards during the event.
The categories include Hotels, Tours Operators, Tour Guides, Niche Tourism, Rural as well as responsible tourism, and more. The awards for best performing States as well as civic management bodies are also given. Aside from becoming the second best state for Comprehensive Tourism Development, Maharashtra was honoured with more awards.
The State of Maharashtra won Civic Management of tourism destination for Panchgani Municipal Council. The award was received by the collector of Satar, Ruchesh Jaywanshi.
The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai received an honour in the 5 stars Delux category.
The Atmantan Wellness resort in Pune was awarded tourism under Niche Tourism which was received by Sharmilee Agrawal Kapur. The award for Rural Tourism was given to Saguna Baug Agri Tourism and was received by Chandan Bhadaswale.
Western Routes, Pune won Best Responsible Tourism Project Initiative which was received by Mr. Jayesh Paranjape. Geetee Travels won Tourist Transporters category which was collected by Mr. Manmohan Goyal. Orix India Auto Infrastructure Services Limited in category 1 won Transport which received by Ms. Sawati M. Prabhudesai.
Dala Rooster, Panchgani won Best B&B which was received by Captain Vikas Gokhale
On receiving the award J.D. Dhananjay Sawalkar expressed his pleasure, I’d like to thank India Tourism for presenting these awards to us. He added that Since several years Maharashtra is being recognized on the industrial front due to the industrial progress the state has been making. However, now a new sun has risen upon the state and a new era has begun where Maharashtra will also be known to lead in the Tourism sector. This award has encouraged the state to do better in future, considering the immense potential the State holds. He added the the state have unlimited attractions, superior connectivity, huge networks of stakeholders and what not and remarked that Maharashtra will soon receive the limelight it deserves.
This truly is a new beginning for Maharashtra and all the stakeholders.