| Galileo Express Travel Tourism Awards 2004 |
| Awarding excellence in the travel & tourism industry |
| New Delhi, November 23, 2004 |
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| The evening of was full of heady surprises & jubilant winners. Galileo Express Travel & Tourism Awards honor excellence in the travel and tourism industry, organized by the Indian Express Group and Galileo India. |
The who's who of the travel industry was present at this prestigious event. Both Renuka Chowdhury, minister of state for tourism (independent charge) and Praful Patel, minister of state for civil aviation (independent charge), spoke at the function and presented the awards. The Oberoi group bagged the best premier hotel brand award defeating strong contenders like the ITC Welcomgroup, The Leela, Le Meridien, The Grand and The Park. However, ITC's Fortune Park brand won in the best first class hotel brand category, while Radisson was declared the best franchise brand. The Editor's Choice Award went to Vithal Kamat for successfully spreading the message of eco-friendly practices in hotels through the Ecotel concept.
It was celebration time for Emirates (best west-bound airline), Singapore Airlines (best east-bound airline) and Jet Airways (best domestic airline) because the three airlines won the awards in their respective categories for two years in succession. Jet had only one competitor, Sahara , but Emirates left behind the likes of British Airways and Lufthansa, while Singapore Airlines won over Malaysia Airlines, China Airlines and others.
The Kuoni group made a clean sweep of the awards in tour operators segment. While Sita Inbound won the award for the best inbound tour operator for the second year in a row, BTI Sita bagged the best corporate travel operator and SOTC the best outbound tour operator. Cox and Kings won the best domestic tour operator award.
Uttaranchal (best domestic tourism board), Malaysia (best international tourism board), Rajasthan (best visual campaign) and Tamil Nadu (best technology) were the other winners.
Another highlight of the evening was the speeches. Both ministers stole the limelight with their crisp, specific views on the way forward for the travel & tourism industry in India .
Speaking on the occasion at the Taj Hotel, Renuka Chowdhury said, “There is a huge ‘intelligent India ' outside. In the wake of Indians contributing to the economies of developed countries around the world, promoting the country as a tourism destination needs to be given priority. We simply can't let go off this opportunity. Tourism has already emerged as the third largest foreign exchange earner for the country. There is a need for a strong domestic campaign to understand the role of tourism.” She also stressed on intelligent packaging of India , the conservation of heritage monuments and fragile eco-system through public-private partnership and promotion of domestic tourism.
Praful Patel made clear that things in his ministry are moving on fast track. Admitting that very little has been done to make things happen, he said, “One single reason why tourism has not progressed in India is lack of infrastructure, which is the single biggest challenge. We have decided to upgrade the airport infrastructure all over the country. As a policy decision, the work will start rolling from 2005. We are inviting international experts, going in for global design concepts to have international standard airports. We also intend to continue with the open sky policy.”
Keeping the night abuzz with excitement Indipop singer and VJ, Rageshwari Lumba lit up the evening at regular intervals with her popular foot-tapping numbers making guests sway and croon with her.
Truly a one-of-a-kind event for the travel & hospitality industry
About Galileo:
Galileo India is the National Distribution Company of Galileo International, the leading global travel and technology Distribution Company. Galileo India commenced operations in 1994 and within a span of nine years the company has extended its network to over 119 cities with 18 dedicated offices.
Galileo India today has nearly 4,000 agency locations with 16 service centers and seven training centers across India . It has now, in its embrace, over 501 airlines, 34 car rental companies and 51,000 hotel properties worldwide. It has also achieved the status of having the maximum number of Airlines in India at the highest level of agreement.
For further information please visit – www.galileoindia.com
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