Tourism News
National Tourism Awards: Kerala maintains winning streak
Winning prestigious National Tourism Awards God?s Own Country has once again reaffirmed its Super Brand position among other States. The State bagged awards for the Best State (Tourism Related Programmes); Most Innovative Use of IT/ Best Tourism Website/Portal and is the joint winner for the Best Rural Tourism Project. Mr. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, State Minister for Tourism received the awards from Ms. Ambika Soni, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture. Dr. V. Venu, Secretary, Tourism was also present. CGH Earth Group from Kerala won the award for Excellence in Publication (Collaterals). Brunton Boatyard in Kochi won the award for the best hotel in the three star category while The Malabar House based in Fort Kochi bagged the award for the Best Heritage Classic hotel. Marari Beach Resort in Alappuzha won the Special Award for Best Eco-friendly hotel.
www.keralatourism.org
Launched in 1998, www.keralatourism.org, the official website of Kerala Tourism is updated on a monthly basis. Currently with more than 2 GB of data on Kerala, the website receives around 4 million hits, with over 1,00,000 visitors and 5,00,000 page views a month. The website had won this award, earlier during 2000-2001 and 2002-2003. Kerala Tourism was the first among the state tourism departments in India to receive this national recognition.
The website had undergone a change of design and structure a year ago. Besides accurate and well-researched text, the website is also a veritable source of entertainment, with exclusive galleries of audio tracks, movie clips and photographs. The website is also available on GPRS-enabled mobile phones, through a dedicated website ?mobile.keralatourism.org.? The website is being designed and maintained by Invis Multimedia since its launch.
Rural Tourism Project, Aranmula
Aranmula lies in the banks of the river Pampa in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. This village is famous for its metal mirror (Aranmula Kannadi) and the annual enchanting boat race. Sree Parthasarathy temple, Vastu Vidya Gurukulam and Vijnana Kalavedi are other well known attractions. Nearly three fourth of Aranmula's population is dependent on agriculture. Its culture and economy is intertwined with the river Pampa the lifeline that flows through the village. Every year tourists from Australia, Canada, England, Switzerland, other European points and other parts of the country reach Aranmula to taste the quintessential rural lifestyle of Kerala.
This village is fast growing as a centre of Kerala's Vastu architecture, cultural art forms, and traditional crafts. The village had earlier been selected for the endogenous tourism project of the United Nations Development Project and the Union Ministry of Tourism. Vastu Vidya Gurukulam is the implementing partner for the project.
