SHIMLA 29th February 2012 : Himachal Pradesh has been conferred National Tourism Award for its exemplary performance in Tourism Sector and with this honour, the State gets its 57th award for its performance during last four years.
Smt. Pratibha Patil, President of India presented the award to Smt. Manisha Nanda, Principal Secretary Tourism and Dr. Arun Kumar, Director, Tourism in an impressive ceremony at New Delhi today. Shri Subodh Kant Sahay, Union Minister for Tourism, Members of Parliament, Senior Officers of Government of India and other prominent persons were present on the occasion.
Chief Minister lauded the contribution of the officers and officials of the Tourism department. Dr. Arum Kumar, Director, Tourism said that the State was adjudged best for publishing publicity material of good quality besides best performance in tourism sector.
He said that the tourism department had published a table book ‘Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai’ for the first time which provided a peep into the historical and cultural heritage of Shimla, natural and religious tourists places besides famous folklores of the State which became popular among the tourists.
He said that Himachal Pradesh was the first State to produce an Electronic Brochure to guide the International tourists and added that the award was conferred upon the State for successful implementation of various tourism schemes.
He said that the tourism sector was contributing ten percent to the State GDP. He said that the folklores of Shimla had been complied by local experts and booklets had been published under ‘Har Gaon Ki Kahani’ to make people aware about various areas of the State.
Dr. Arun Kumar said that infrastructure in tourism sector was being strengthened by associating it with MNREGA and other programmes and added that State Government was making efforts to project ‘ Brand Himachal’ at national level.
