City of Lakes, Udaipur which is well known for tourism celebrated World Tourism Day 2011 today by organizing various programmes and welcoming tourists at different places of the city.

The students from Department of Hotel Management and Tourism, MLSU has also celebrated the day by organizing cultural programmes at their campus.

Since morning, Department of Tourism has arranged special preparations to welcome all the tourists arriving in the city today as well as those who are visiting major tourist spots of Udaipur by greeting them in traditional Rajasthani style.

With a traditional thali containing tilak and garland, people dressed in Rajasthani attire were present to receive the tourists at City Railway Station, Bus Stand and Airport.

In the afternoon various activities were jointly organized by Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, MLSU and Department of Tourism, Govt. of Rajasthan based on various themes like Rangoli Making -depicting the culture, Quiz – related to tourism, extempore, poster making, dance and presentations in which students from various institutes participated including Institute of Hotel Management, Pacific College and BIM.

Ashok Singh Rathod, head of Hotel management and Tourism Department, MLSU said, “Our motive is to depict Udaipur’s culture and tradition by organizing these events today which also helps these young students from various colleges to participate and understand the value of World Tourism Day.”

Sumita Saroch, Deputy Director, Department of Tourism, Govt of Rajasthan says, “This time we had a special theme of Linking Cultures, the competitions and programmes we organized today were all based on the theme of linking cultures. Besides this we have special programmes at various places in the city which also includes traditional welcome of the tourists.”

At evening, another series of cultural programmes were held at Gangore Ghat and Lake Pichola by The Mewar Tourism Celebration Committee with Maha Aarti, Lightning of Lamps and Folk Dances.

The programme was jointly organized by the support of various organizations involved in tourism and related business including Travel Agent Association, Indian Tourist Guide Association, Maharana Pratap Guide Union, Hotel Association, Udaipur Handicraft Association and Art & Craft Exporter Association.

Scroll down to perceive how Udaipur celebrated World Tourism Day 2011