Mumbai: As The Free Press Journal’s Angels of Tourism 2024 season ended, a jury panel of five distinguished members came together to select the top 10 winning Angels and one special mention. These five stalwarts from the tourism industry deliberated at The Free Journal’s Nariman Point office to discuss the Angels’ work.
This special initiative in association with the Maharashtra Tourism Department, aims at honouring pioneers from the state’s tourism sector who have been working relentlessly to provide tourists with cultural and sustainable experiences that are both inclusive and impactful.
The chairperson of the honourable jury panel Dr Sagnik Chowdhury, Deputy Director General & Regional Director (West & Central India), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, was thoroughly impressed with the work of the 15 angels. He shared, “The Angels of Tourism Season 2024 has been an eye-opener for me, as it was a great mix of nominees and I feel they were astounding. I like that their work focussed on aspects like sustainability, social equity, social impact and overall impact on tourism. It was difficult to select a few as everyone was great!”
The jury members discussed at length the work of the angels and gave them scores for responsible tourism; community engagement, social equity and social impact; innovation, education; and overall impact on tourism.
Other jury members included Neela Lad, Former Deputy Director General (Western & Central India), Ministry of Tourism, Government. of India; Vishal Kamat, Director of Kamat Hotels and Chairman of the CII Maharashtra Council for 2024-25; Narendra Singh Rathor, Chairman, Western Region, Indian Association of Tour Operators and Kamlesh Barot, Director of Vie Hospitality and past president of The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI).
“This is a great initiative and I appreciate the opportunity it gives people to share their work. There are so many unique tourism products and experiences that the state has to offer and it was a tough task to select the best out of these amazing people,” shares Lad. “T have been part of the tourism industry for over four decades, but I have not come across such unusual tourism experiences in my career;” concludes Rat
