The evening brought together state tourism officials, conservationists, industry experts, lodge owners, naturalists, community enterprises, photographers, and responsible travel advocates, united by a shared mission to ensure that tourism contributes directly to protecting wildlife, restoring habitats, and uplifting local communities.

From pioneering sustainability innovations to community-driven conservation models, the 2025 finalists and winners demonstrated how well-managed nature tourism can act as a powerful force for ecological restoration, rural livelihoods, and long-term stewardship of India’s natural heritage.

Established in 2010, the TOFT Wildlife Tourism Awards have grown steadily in prominence and industry impact, providing meaningful recognition to organisations and individuals demonstrating excellence in sustainable tourism. By honouring these leaders, TOFT aims to inspire wider adoption of responsible practices that protect wildlife, safeguard natural habitats, and build resilient ecosystems across the country.

The ceremony featured Bittu Sahgal, Editor of Sanctuary Asia and Founder of the Sanctuary Nature Foundation, as the Keynote Speaker. In his address, he underscored the critical role of responsible tourism in strengthening conservation awareness, supporting local livelihoods, and fostering long-term ecological stewardship. A part of his speech was devoted to remembering the late Mr. Valmik Thapar, one of India’s most respected wildlife conservationists, whose legacy continues to inspire the conservation community. Drawing from over four decades of experience, Mr. Sahgal reminded the audience that forests, wildlife, and the communities that protect them are life-support systems for our collective future.

Reflecting on lessons from Gir and other wilderness landscapes across India, he emphasised that climate instability poses one of the greatest threats to both wildlife and human wellbeing, urging the tourism and conservation community to champion models that restore ecosystems, reduce pressure on natural habitats, and reconnect younger generations with India’s natural heritage.

Mr. Sahgal’s keynote reinforced a shared message: that the choices we make today in tourism, conservation, and land use will shape the future of India’s forests, wildlife, and the communities intertwined with them.

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The prestigious e4m PR and Corp Comm 40 Under 40 Awards recognises the country’s brightest professionals, entrepreneurs, game changers and achievers under the age of 40 who are shaping the industry. Out of hundreds of nominations this year, Yamini was selected based on her achievements that were reviewed by an expert jury comprising industry leaders from Indigo, Shell, Pernod Ricard, Airtel, Hill + Knowlton Strategies, Bayer among others.

Yamini plays an integral role in driving sustainable portfolio performance at Think Strawberries and is responsible for establishing an effective content strategy, accelerating press outreach and strengthening media relations for its global destination clients. Her work focusses on working with international tourism boards, destinations and global attractions and rightly positioning them in the India market using PR and Corporate Communications as strategic tools. She has been with Think Strawberries since 2019 and currently leads the company’s PR division to achieve sector-leading brand equity for Think Strawberries and its growing portfolio of clients.

“I am humbled to receive this recognition and thank the esteemed jury for awarding me with this honour. It certainly offers the motivation to keep contributing to the field and continuing to make a positive impact. Most importantly I value the professional and personal relationships that have helped me on my journey to this moment, as I could not have done this alone,” said Yamini Singh, VP-PR & Media, Think Strawberries.

The 4^th edition of the e4m PR and Corp Comm 40 Under 40 award was held at Hotel The Leela Ambience in Gurugram on 1^st February, 2023.

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Forbes Travel Guide has released their highly anticipated and illustrious 2022 guide, announcing Caesars Palace Dubai as one of their five star recommended hotels. As the worldrenowned authority in genuine five-star service, the Forbes Travel Guide Five Star recognition reinforces Caesars Palace Dubai’s reputation in the UAE for its world-class service standards, luxury hospitality and guest experience. 

Under the leadership of Anthony Costa, Regional President, Caesars Palace Dubai, this award is the resort’s first in the region. 

Commenting on the occasion, he says, “For a young hotel to be recognized by the Forbes Travel Guide is a remarkable moment for our team of leaders and committed colleagues. Nurturing their ambitions through training and development has led to this recognition, and it lays testament to their unwavering passion, commitment, and relentless desire to be among the best in service. I am extremely proud of what we have achieved in a short time – it truly motivates and inspires our team to always strive for excellence!” 

The Forbes Travel Guide is internationally recognised as the top marker for luxury hotels. “Travel has come back strongly, and the resilient hospitality industry is creatively rallying to accommodate the increased occupancy demand for most regions,” says Hermann Elger, CEO of Forbes Travel Guide. “While the industry faces some lingering issues, the 2022 award winners proved ready for those challenges and more, demonstrating the best that luxury hospitality has to offer.” 

With luxurious accommodation, decadent dining experiences, legendary hospitality, iconic service and kids recreation, Caesars Palace Dubai is the ultimate holiday destination, now with the five-star award in the Forbes Travel Guide 2022. 

To view the new Star Award winners, visit ForbesTravelGuide.com. 

For a detailed explanation of how Forbes Travel Guide compiles its Star Ratings, click here.

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With around 300 employees, Eastbound Group constitutes brands like Eastbound, Distinct Destinations, 2HUB, Eastbound Discoveries, CHIME, etc. and received the Great Place to Work® certification under the mid-size organizations category.

Every year, more than 10,000 companies from over 60 countries partner Great Place to Work® Institute for assessment, benchmarking and planning actions to strengthen their workplace culture. Its methodology is recognized as rigorous, objective and is considered as the gold standard for defining great workplaces across business, academia and government organizations.

Great Place to Work® Certification Program is the first step for a company in its journey to build a high-trust, high-performance culture™ and Eastbound Group has successfully accomplished this milestone.

“This is a proud moment for us all and I thank my employees for their continuous commitment in making us the organization we are today. I hope that we make great strides in surpassing these assessment results and keep raising the bar for ourselves and all organizations that aspire to be a great place to work,” Mr. Manish Pratik, Co-founder and Director, Eastbound Group.

“We are proud and yet humbled to have received this certification from Great Place to Work® Institute. This is a real feather in our cap and it will only encourage our employees to push themselves further and strive for excellence,” Mr. Prrithviraj Singh, Co-founder and Director, Eastbound Group.

“We are traversing through difficult times right now, much like any other travel and tourism business, therefore this recognition is a true reinforcement of our undestructible spirit. It emboldens the organization to tide through this challenging period with the same commitment it has displayed over the years. We are strong today, stronger tomorrow and strongest together,” Mr. Amit Kishore, Co-founder and Director, Eastbound Group.

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Anurag Srivastava, Chief Executive Officer of Bird ExecuJet Airport Services, says, ‘ BEAS has always strived to improve safety culture in their organization and have a firm belief in proactive & predictive approach for the safety of the organization. IS-BAH Stage 2 accreditation is a way forward to ensure global industry best practices & safety Management system implementation in BEAS.’

Stage 2 accreditation ensures that safety management activities are appropriately targeted and that safety risks are being effectively managed. IS-BAH accreditation & implementation ensures enhanced operational safety through predictive and proactive methods. It also improves efficiency and effectiveness through an integrated management system. Other benefits include increased senior management understanding and appreciation for the flight department, reduced insurance rates and the ability to measure overall department performance.

IBAC is developed by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) and the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), and lays down a set of global industry best practices for business aviation ground handlers that feature at its core a safety management system (SMS). The standard is based on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and recommended practices in the preparation of handling business aircraft.

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Cygnett Hotels and Resorts has received the ‘Fastest Growing Hotel Chain’ award recently at an event organized by Today’s Traveller. The winners of the awards were felicitated by the Minister of State for Tourism & Culture, Prahlad Singh Patel, at a glittering ceremony on July 29, 2019.

Speaking about the win, Sarbendra Sarkar, Founder & Managing Director of Cygnett Hotels Group said, “This recognition is a translation of all the hard work that we at Cygnett have been doing and striving for.”  Cygnett is a very strong tech-savvy and a progressive brand that is now entering multiple territories in South Asia. It is also introducing new hospitality concepts to maximize value for customers and investors.

Cygnett Hotels & Resorts started in 2012 in India with the vision of creating a hotel company that is responsive to the demands of a metamorphosing world, without compromising the ideals of good hospitality, quality comfort and great service. Cygnett’s constant endeavour for success and commitment towards excellence is continually recognized in India & globally. The hospitality group is actively working to open 100+ Hotels across 75+ cities in India and to operate in 6+ International locations within the next five years. The company is looking forward to adding 6000+ keys by 2022 and to benchmark “Cygnetture Service & Experiences” in the industry. Currently, the group has over 35 alliances with 20 operational hotels and 15 hotels in the pipeline and various stages of pre-opening.  Soon, Cygnett will be marking its flag in the South Asian countries.

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VFS Global, the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for diplomatic missions worldwide, is proud to announce it has received two very prestigious awards – Dubai Quality Global Award (DQGA) and a 5 Star Rating in the Emirates Business Rating Scheme (EBRS) at the prestigious 25th Annual Business Excellence Awards. Both the awards were presented under the Service Sector category. Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the 25th Annual Business Excellence Awards were hosted by the Department of Economic Development (DED), Dubai.

His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoumbestowed the Dubai Quality Global Award (DQGA) –for Service SectoronZubin Karkaria, Chief Executive Officer, VFS Global Group, at the awards ceremony. Her Excellency Ohood Bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing and the Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office of UAE awarded the CEO of VFS Global Group for achieving 5 Star Rating in the Emirates Business Rating Scheme (EBRS). The EBRS and DQGA awards are based on the European Foundation for Quality Management – Business Excellence program.

Zubin Karkaria, CEO of VFS Global Group, said, “I am deeply humbled and honoured to receive these two very prestigious awards on behalf of VFS Global from His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Her Excellency Ohood Bint Khalfan Al Roumi. At VFS Global, we are focused on continuously raising the bars of customer experience and overall business excellence. This dual recognition is a testament to our commitment to deliver seamless, secure and innovative customer-centric services, and to our general commitment to business excellence. As a global company, we have had the opportunity to leverage on the experience, cultures, and uniqueness of our employees across global markets to deliver impactful services for our customers and for society in general”.

Dubai Quality Award was launched in 1994 and recently it has earned global recognition making it Dubai Quality Global Award. VFS Global was assessed as a winner based on the RADAR Assessment and Management evaluation method which assesses each company on nine criteria – viz. Leadership, Strategy, People, Partnership& Resources, Processes, Products & Services, People Results, Customer Results, Society Results and Business Results.

Emirates Business Rating Scheme has been recently launched by the Dubai Economy in partnership with the Prime Minister’s Office and Business Excellence Department to enhance the overall service levels across the Emirates. Under the Emirates Business Rating Scheme, the main criteria for assessment include Strategic Alignment, Customer Insight, Services, Service Channels, Customer Experience, Service Efficiency& Innovation, People and Technology.

Committed to continuous improvement and closing the capability gap, earlier in March 2019, VFS Global has also been appraised at the CMMI Maturity Level 3for CMMI Service Excellence by KPMG. An appraisal at maturity level 3 indicates that an organisation’s processes are well characterized, understood, and are described in standards, procedures, tools and methods. The organisation’s set of standard processes, which is the basis for maturity level 3, is established and improved over time.

Adding to the list of accolades, VFS Global recently achieved the PCMM Level 5 rating appraisal. The rating was awarded within two and a half years after being appraised at PCMM Level 3 (People Capability Maturity Model) in mid-2016. VFS Global is the only visa services company to have achieved a People Capability Maturity Model (PCMM) rating. The appraisal is a validation of VFS Global’s long-standing commitment to continuous business excellence adopted by a strong global workforce of 10,000 employees spread across 144 countries in five continents.

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”Helsinki as a city is committed to promoting sustainable development and is showing the way in this regard also within the tourism sector in Europe. Over the coming year we will formulate a sustainable tourism action plan that will further strengthen our role as a pioneer in this joint project,” says Deputy Mayor Pia Pakarinen.

Factors that were evaluated in choosing the European Capital of Smart Tourism included city image, accessibility, sustainable tourism, digitalisation in tourism services, cultural heritage and innovativeness in tourism offerings.

“Helsinki is showing the way internationally. Helsinki’s success in this competition was made possible by our reinforced image as an attractive and functional city destination. In addition, our long-term work in offering and utilising open data has clearly become one of our leading success factors. For example, our award-winning city marketing website Myhelsinki.fi demonstrates Helsinki’s digital leadership,” says Laura Aalto, CEO of Helsinki Marketing.

In the second half of next year, when Finland will hold the EU Presidency, Helsinki will have an excellent opportunity to present its expertise also in sustainable tourism. In addition, Helsinki will host the World Tourism Cities Federation Summit in August 2019, when the eyes of the international travel media and global tourism experts will be firmly on our city.

Background information about the European Capital of Smart Tourism 2019 competition

The European Capital of Smart Tourism competition is a new initiative by the European Union that aims to promote smart tourism in the EU, network and strengthen destinations, and facilitate the exchange of best practices.

Altogether 38 cities from 19 EU Member States participate in the inaugural competition. Helsinki competed in the final selection with Brussels, Ljubljana, Lyon, Malaga, Nantes, Palma, Poznań, Tallinn and Valencia.

The award ceremony will take place in connection with European Tourism Day in Brussels on 7 November 2018.

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This is the second year in a row that Goa has bagged the prestigious National Tourism Award. This is also the second time Goa is bagging an award in the category of Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India).

Goa’s selection  for the award comes as a result of a well documented submission on the State’s achievements  in tourism  over the last  six years which has achieved fruitful results in various sectors be it infrastructure development, commissioning of tourism projects, launching of tourism products and services, initiatives taken on safety and security, cleanliness and hygiene, policies, marketing and promotion, events and activities among others.

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The Awards were judged and overseen by a grand jury comprising of leading professionals from various disciplines within the Tourism Industry. Shri. K.J. Alphons, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India  and Special Guest Mr. Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, Minister of Tourism, the Republic of Mauritius presided over the awards. Ruchit Jangid- Vice President – E-Business, E-commerce, SOTC Travel received the award on behalf of SOTC Travel.

With a strong online presence, SOTC Travel continues to reach out to a large customer base with its predefined online customized packages under the ‘Easy Series’, Escorted Group Holidays, Darshans, Flexi Series and Weekend Getaways. The Omni channel strategy has helped create a cohesive, seamless experience of products that caters to customer’s preferences and convenience thus empowering customers in planning and selecting their holidays while ensuring a higher level of customer delight and loyalty.

On winning the accolade, Vishal Suri, Managing Director, SOTC Travel said, “It is a great honour to be felicitated with the 2018 Zee Business Travel Award. At SOTC Travel, we follow an Omni-channel approach by being present at all times for our customers, adding value throughout their travel. Over the last one year with the launch of the new online portal www.sotc.in, we have seen an increase in website visitors, content consumption and feedback from our users on our product offerings. The award is recognition of our efforts towards creating a positive customer experience. We will continue to significantly invest in technology in delivering personalized experiences at every step of our customer’s journey”.

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