Yet another honour  for Goa at the National Tourism Awards: Presented  Prestigious Award for Comprehensive Development  of Tourism (Rest of India)

Panjim, Sept 27: Goa achieves yet another milestone  at the National Tourism Awards  held in the national capital today 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 Hon’ble Union Minister for Tourism, Mr. Alphons Kannanthanam and   was received  by the Hon’ble Minister  for Tourism, Govt. of Goa, Mr. Manohar Ajgaonkar along with Managing Director of  GTDC, Mr. Nikhil Desai in  the distinguished presence of Secretary Tourism, Govt.  of India, Ms 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). 

 Today’s  award was presented at a glittering  ceremony at Vigyan Bhavan   in New Delhi  coinciding  with the occasion of World Tourism Day, 27th September 2018. 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  the Hon’ble Minister  for Tourism, Mr.  Manohar 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.  I  thank  each and  every  tourism stakeholder who has contributed  towards helping Goa Tourism  achieve this  milestone and  I  congratulate  all the Goa tourism  officials  who have  worked hard to execute  plans, policies and projects  which has put us in a spotlight.  I  hope and pray that  this hard work, dedication  and efficient  team continues  to march ahead and  help us achieve  many such prestigious awards in the years to come. I also thank  the Hon’ble Chief Minister  of Goa, Mr. Manohar Parrikar and  Minister for Power & Chairman  of Goa Tourism Development  Corporation  (GTDC) Mr. Nilesh Cabral for their  wholehearted  support  and  co-operation  in helping  Goa  Tourism  to reach  great heights.”

Photo  Caption: Hon’ble Union Minister for Tourism, Mr. Alphons Kannanthanam  presenting the prestigious National Tourism Award in the category of  Comprehensive Development  of Tourism (Rest of India) for the year 2016-17 to Hon’ble Minister  for Tourism, Govt. of Goa, Mr. Manohar Ajgaonkar along with Managing Director of  GTDC, Mr. Nikhil Desai in  the distinguished presence of Secretary Tourism, Govt.  of India Ms Rashmi Verma (IAS).