the goan I network
PANAJI
Goa achieves yet another milestone at the National Tourism Awards held in the national capital on Thursday bagging the prestigious national tourism award in the category of Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) for the year 2016-17.
The award was presented by the Union Minister for Tourism, Alphons Kannanthanam and was received by the Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar along with Managing Director of GTDC, Nikhil Desai in the presence of Tourism Secretary, Government of India, Rashmi Verma (IAS).
This is the second year in a row that Goa has bagged a prestigious National Tourism Award. This is also the second time Goa is bagging an NTA in the category of Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India).
Thursday’s award was presented at a glittering ceremony at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi coinciding with the occasion of World Tourism Day.
The NTA awards have been instituted since 1990 and presented to state governments/UTs and several other tourism bodies in recognition of their performance in the respective fields of travel, tourism and hospitality encouraging healthy competition with an aim to promote tourism.
Goa’s selection for the award comes as a result of a well-documented submission on the State’s achievements in tourism over the last six years which has achieved fruitful results in various sectors be it infrastructure development, commissioning of tourism projects, launching of tourism products and services, initiatives taken on safety and security, cleanliness and hygiene, policies, marketing and promotion, events and activities etc.
On receiving the award, Ajgaonkar said, “It is truly an honour for Goa to receive such a prestigious award for the second year especially in the area of Comprehensive Development of Tourism.”
“Over the last one year, I have been closely monitoring various aspects of tourism development and it is noteworthy that a lot is being undertaken in the State towards overall development of tourism. This is helping the State to attract more tourists as we have grown not only in numbers but in terms of infrastructure, initiatives of all kinds and strengthened measures for safety of tourists and providing a clean environment,” he added.
Ajgaonkar also thanked each and every tourism stakeholder who has contributed towards helping Goa Tourism achieve this milestone.
“I also congratulate all the Goa tourism officials who have worked hard to execute plans, policies and projects which has put us in a spotlight,” the Minister added.
