And I am sure you haven’t even heard most of these names before! And its only fair that I share the list of the 35 Best Tourism Villages that India has to offer.

As I swell with pride looking at West Bengal’s name in the list, I am equally thrilled glancing through the list of other villages who made it to this prestigious list. And honestly apart from two or three, the rest are alien to me, but I have every intention of visiting each one of them.

What Were the Areas of Evaluation?

Based on the 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) listed by the United Nations (UN) that has been the call for action to all the countries made up for the foundation of the evaluation.

The areas of evaluation have been a mixed of the SDGs since some are inter-connected.

• Cultural and Natural Resources
• Economic Sustainability
• Environmental Sustainability
• Governance and Prioritization of Tourism
• Health, Safety and Security
• Promotion and Conservation of Cultural Resources
• Social Sustainability
• Tourism Development and Value Chain Integration
• Infrastructure and Connectivity

What Was the Eligibility Criteria?

Not to be bombarded with application, the eligibility criteria to enter the nomination was kept simple and precise.

• Where the population density is low and does not exceed 25,000 inhabitants.
• The village should be within a radius of famous places or tourist destination or landscape.
• Where traditional activities like agriculture, craft, cuisine etc. are practiced.
• There should have been a history of community values or based on past achievements.
• Only those applications would be considered which were filled in and submitted online.

‘The Best Tourism Award’ was categorized under three categories – Gold, Silver and Bronze. And the villages were awarded under these categories.

Here we go!

Gold Award – Received by 5 villages and they are:

1. Kanthaloor in Kerela
2. Reiek Heritage Village in Mizoram
3. Dawar Village in Gurez, Jammu & Kashmir
4. Sarmoli in Uttarakhand
5. Madla of Panna, MP

Silver awards – Received by 10 villages and they are:

1. Lepakshi Village in Andhra
2. Shergaon in Arunachal
3. Sarodhadadar in Chhattisgarh
4. Kalpeni in Lakshwadeep
5. Pembarthy in Telengana
6. Raghurajpur in Odisha
7. Hemis Ladakh
8. Menar, Rajasthan
9. Kaurauna Uttar Pradesh
10. Khijadia, Gujarat  

Bronze awards – Received by 20 villages and they are:

1. Bishwanath Ghat in Assam
2. Devka DNHDD
3. Cotigao Goa      
4. Talao Haryana 
5. Chitkul, Himachal Pradesh
6. McCluskieganj, Jharkhand 
7. Hampi, Karnataka
8. Khokhra, Madhya Pradesh
9. Patagaon, Maharashtra   
10. Kongthong, Meghalaya
11. Diezephe, Nagaland  
12. Thirunallar, Puducherry    
13. Nawanpind Sardaran, Punjab 
14. Naurangabad, Rajasthan
15. Kitam, Sikkim            
16. Vettaikaranpudur, Tamil Nadu
17. Ulladu, Tamil Nadu
18. Chandlapur, Telengana
19. Vidyasagr Gram Panchayat, Tripura
20. Kriteswari, West Bengal

All these villages have been subjected to careful scrutiny before being endowed by ‘The Best Village Tourism’ Award. It also goes without saying that they encompass the values of the SDGs that also contributed to their growth.

With these villages receiving constant media exposure due to their current status, we should ensure that our visit to these places only contribute positively towards their landscape and their cultures and lead to depletion of their natural resources.