Kerala bags six awards

The tourism industry in Kerala has carved its own place at the top when it comes to laurels. The national awards presentation ceremony held in New Delhi last week had 'God's own country' garnering quite a handful of prizes. As many as six awards came its way when the awards for year 2004-05 were presented.

Awards included that for the best performing tourism state and outstanding achievements in the area of tourism and the tourism-friendly monuments award for Sakthan Thampuran Palace, Kochi.

The other awards that came Kerala's way are those for Best Eco-friendly Resort and Best Heritage Classic for CGH Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom, Best three-star resort for CGH Brunton Boatyard, Kochi, Special awards for Invis Multimedia's Ayurveda - The Mantra of Nirmaya and Tourism India's Kerala Tourism Handbook.

The national awards instituted by the Union Ministry for Tourism for the excellent performance in the field of tourism in the year 2004-05 was given away by Ambika Soni, Union minister of tourism at a glittering function in New Delhi on March 17. K C Venugopal, Kerala's minister for tourism received the awards.