KUMAAR HOLIDAYS

No. 42, Chowdary Nagar Main Road, Valasaravakkam, Chennai-600087 Cell: 78109 86933 / 7810896933 / 93810 61000 E-mail: kumaarholidays1@gmail.com Website: www.kumaarholidays.com
Kerala Tourism's pioneering use of Information Technology to boost tourist arrivals and the hugely successful Kochi-Muziris Biennale along with Kumarakom's Responsible Tourism model have helped 'God's Own Country' scoop the National Tourism Awards for the year 2012-13. In all, Kerala Tourism won four awards, including the second prize in the Best State category. Kerala Tourism Minister Shri A P Anil Kumar received the National Tourism Awards for 201213 from Hon'ble Minister of State for Human Resources Development Dr Shashi Tharoor at a function held at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on February 18. In the Niche Tourism segment, the award for the 'Most Innovative and Unique Tourism Project' went to Kochi-Muziris Biennale. The first edition of the mega art event, supported by the Department of Tourism and held during December 2012-February 2013 had attracted nearly half a million visitors, including tens of thousands from outside the state and abroad. Kumarakom Grama Panchayat won in the Civic Management of a Tourism Destination in India category. The award for Kumarakom was received by Grama Panchayat president Smt Dhanya Sabu. Kumarakom, the first ever destination in India to successfully implement Responsible Tourism, has set a model for the rest of India. Kerala Tourism, together with Kumarakom Grama Panchayat, has been bringing in positive changes at the destination in the environmental, social and economical spheres.

Kerala Tourism also won the award for the 'Most Innovative Use of Information Technology'. Presented every year, the National Tourism Awards are acknowledged as a benchmark of excellence and recognition for the outstanding achievements of tourism industry stakeholders in the country.

'The awards are an honour for the state, Kerala Tourism and all its stakeholders,' said Shri A P Anilkumar. 'It is a recognition for our unceasing efforts to promote sustainable tourism with the help of the local community even while we make use of the advantages of technology,' he said. 'In the coming years we will bring more innovations and newer products, and strive to remain among the leaders in tourism.'

The Kerala Tourism website (www.keralatourism.org) is one of the most-visited tourism websites in the world. The innovative technological initiatives by the state tourism department during 2012-13 include a live webcast of Theyyam performance from the Velloor Sri Kozhunthum Pati Kshetram in March last year and an online quiz competition, also in March last year, in which Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shri Shashi Tharoor was the Quiz Master.

Kerala Tourism's innovative use of the virtual media is set to see the state becoming the 'world's capital of travel bloggers' next month. A 'Kerala Blog Express' bus will take 25 winners of a contest all of them among the world's top bloggers on a tour of the state. 'The National Awards are a huge encouragement to Kerala Tourism's new policy of practicing a communityinvolved and eco-friendly, sustainable tourism to enhance the quality of the visitor's experience,' said Kerala Tourism Secretary Shri Suman Billa.

''Because of our community-oriented initiatives, use of technology and the inclusion of intellectual tourism, today there is a 'brand new Kerala experience',' Shri Billa added. The remarkable achievement of four National Tourism Awards in 2012-13 comes close on the heels of Kerala Tourism winning the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Ullysses Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism last month. The award, for the Tourism Department's Responsible Tourism model in Kumarakam, is the first ever UNWTO honour for a tourism board in India.

In the private sector too, Kerala got four awards. 'The honour is the result of a meaningful partnership between the public and the private sectors, along with the people of Kerala,' said Kerala Tourism Director Shri S Harikishore. 'They bestow on us the further responsibility to strive harder in the future.' Kumarakom Lake Resort Kottayam was named the best five-star hotel, Vivanta by Taj at Kumarakom was the best four-star hotel and Brunton Boatyard in Fort Kochi the best three-star hotel. Trivandrum-based Great India Tour Company won the award for the Best Inbound Tour Operator.

THE HARDER YOU WORK THE LUCKIER YOU GET

KUMAAR HOLIDAYS
No. 42, Chowdary Nagar Main Road, Valasaravakkam, Chennai-600087 Cell: 78109 86933 / 7810896933 / 93810 61000 E-mail: kumaarholidays1@gmail.com Website: www.kumaarholidays.com