MP village nominated for UNWTO award

Ladhpura Khas village of Madhya Pradesh's Orchha has been nominated for the 'Best Tourism Village' category in the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) award.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took to his Twitter handle and congratulated all the officers and employees of the Tourism Department on the achievement.

"A moment of pride for us all as Madhya Pradesh's village Ladhpura Khas has been selected for entry to the 'Best Tourism Village'. My best wishes to the whole team of MP Tourism and administration on this achievement. Keep up the good work," he tweeted.

Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Sheo Shekhar Shukla informed that the Union Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has nominated Ladpura Khas village of Orchha for the Best Tourism Village.

Shukla said, "Along with this, two other villages have been nominated one from Meghalaya and the other from Telangana."

According to Shukla, the 'Rural Tourism' project has been started to give shape to the concept of rural tourism by adding new dimensions in the field of tourism.

"In the next five years, 100 villages will be developed from the point of view of rural tourism. Among these, suitable sites will be selected and developed in Orchha, Khajuraho, Mandu, Sanchi, Pachmarhi, Tamia, Panna National Park, Bandhavgarh National Park, Sanjay Dubri National Park, Pench and Kanha National Park, Mitawali, Padawali, etc," he said.

The official said that 'Rural Tourism' provides an opportunity to the local people to know about the interest and needs of tourists while maintaining the importance of local culture and tradition.

"Through rural tourism, tourists can also find accommodation of local cultural specialties, types, and processes of local food, dress, dialect, customs, traditions, local means of transport, jewelry, makeup songs, music, musical instruments, dance, painting, methods of preservation of food grains and food, local sports, social and economic methods, etc," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )