In a first of its kind Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) has been recognized internationally for its efforts and contribution in the field of Responsible Tourism by the global forum World Travel Market (WTM), London. UTDB bagged the ‘One to Watch’ award.
WTM has been driving the responsible tourism agenda forward in Europe, Africa, Americas, Australia and Asia, since 2004. The WTM Responsible Tourism Awards cover the globe – India and rest of the World. The awards committee expects leaders in Responsible Tourism to have established practices which are Evidence-based, Replicable, Innovative, Sustainable and Committed to Responsible Tourism.
Out of the six categories of the awards, Uttarakhand Tourism submitted its entry in the ‘Sustaining Employees and Communities through the Pandemic’ category. The Tourism Department and the cohesive efforts of all the district tourist officers were appreciated for safely evacuating stranded tourists in the state during the lockdown, when offices all around the world were physically closed.
Minister Tourism Uttarakhand, Satpal Maharaj said, “I am thankful to WTM for choosing Uttarakhand Tourism as the ‘One to Watch’ award winner and congratulate the department for its efforts in making this happen. Through the development of various tourism circuits – village, rural wildlife, eco, religious, adventure and several other tourist sectors are being promoted along with schemes like Vir Chandra Singh Garhwali and Deen Dayal Upadhyay to enable self-employment.”
Secretary Tourism Dilip Jawalkar said, “Uttarakhand tourism is committed to promoting responsible and eco-friendly tourism in the region, towards sustaining the growth and development of its employees and local communities and to realizing the vision of placing Uttarakhand on the World Tourism map. We have stood by our people and been gracious hosts to national and international tourists, even in tough times when the world was hard hit by the pandemic. We are truly honoured to receive this recognition for our efforts.”
