New Delhi, 27: On the occasion of ‘World Tourism Day’
Maharashtra received three National Tourism Awards 2015-16 at the hands of the
President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, here today. These three awards were bagged by Chhatrapati
Shivaji International Airport, Smt. Rama Khandwala and the Khyber
Restaurant under the categories of Best Airport, Tourist Guide and Best Stand
Alone
Restaurant.
In
a function held at Vigyan Bhawan, the other awards presented were to
various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry at a function
organised by the Ministry of Tourism on the occasion of “World Tourism Day”.
Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism Shri Alphons Kannanthanam presided over the
function. Tourism Ministers of States, Central and State Government Officials,
Members from the Travel and Hospitality Industries, including leading
Hoteliers, Travel Agents and Tour Operators, Students from Tourism and
Hospitality Institutes, Mainstream and Travel Media attended the function.
Shri
Sanjeev Taneja CEO and Rahul Banerjee, GM of Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport, CSIA, Mumbai received the Award at the hands of the President. Chhatrapati
Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai is the 2nd busiest
airport in South Asia and represents 1702% of all India Traffic. Despite being
the most operationally challenged city airport in the world, efforts have been
made to augment passenger experience by providing State of the Art
facilities. CSIA has been awarded as the
World’s Best Airport globally in the category of 25-40 million passengers at
Airport Service Quality Awards 2015 by Airports Council International. More
than 190 daily flights operate to 90 destinations in India and globally. The
CSIA has significantly contributed towards environment and its sustainability
and efforts to develop a conducive eco system has also been a major
consideration.
The
Best Tourist Guide (Special Award) was bagged by Smt. Rama Khandwala of
Mumbai. She received this prestigious
award at the hands of Hon. President. Smt. Khandwala, one of the senior most
guide and has served Tourism Industry for over 50 years. She is still active at the age of 91, and has
contributed significantly as a cultural ambassador of Indian tourism industry.
Fluent in Japanese language, she has contributed in building cultural relations
and promotion of Buddhist sites in Maarashtra and other parts of the
country. She has also served as a Second
Lieutenant in the Rani Jhansi Regiment of the Azad Hind Fauj in Rangoon under
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s struggle for freedom.
The third Award in the
kitty was the Best Stand Alone Restaurant Award bagged by Khyber Restaurant of
Mumbai. Shri Sudhir and Smt Rashmi Behl received this Award. This Restaurant, a
175 seat restaurant, was started by Om Parkash Bahl in 1958. Destroyed in fire in 1985, it was reopened in
1988 designed by Parmeshwar Godrej.
Serving North-West Frontier cuisine, the Restaurant plays host to a
number of international celebrities including Prince (now King) of Luxembourg,
Demi Moore, Goldie Hawn and Brad Pitt and the Defence Minister of Canada.
The President also
launched the “Incredible India 2.0 Campaign”; ‘Adopt A Heritage’ Project and
new Incredible India Website on the occasion. “Incredible India 2.0 Campaign”
marks a shift from the present generic promotions being undertaken across the
world, to market specific promotional plans and product specific creative, with
greater focus on digital presence and social media. ‘Adopt A Heritage’ Project
plans to entrust heritage sites to the public sector and private sector
companies and individuals for the development of tourist amenities. They will
become ‘Monument Mitras’ and adopt the sites. The “New Incredible India
Website” is an advanced version of the website with more useful features.
