Who we are & What we do :
A'chik Tourism Society (ATS)
We are a group of friends who love nature, environment, forest, adventure, camping, trekking, exploring, traveling, music, photography, astronomy, reaching out to rural folks and spreading the message of preservation of the forest, ecology, culture, tradition and promoting tourism in their village. We love to encourage the local youth and village folks in making a livelihood out of tourism-related activities in their respective village and district and most of all to live in harmony and peace with nature and fellow human beings.
ATS came into existence in 2004 and it's been 19 long years since we first set out on our mission. In these 19 long years, we have been through many hardships, disappointments, failures and injuries. But we didn't count our cuts and bruises instead we looked at the positive side and marched on and today we are happy to look back and take pride in what we have achieved and so many lives changed.
ATS is active in many activities like Greening Garo Hills Mission, Conservation Works, Promotion of Tourism in Garo Hills, Awareness Programs in remote villages around Garo Hills, Cleanliness Drives, Eco-Tourism & Adventure Tours in Garo Hills, and Photography among others. Apart from these missions, we are also an established event managers and event organizers for many years in Garo Hills. We have organized mega events like BattleRock - All Garo Hills Rock Contest, Karaoke Singing Contest, Photography Contests, conducted ATS Bike Tour to Balpakram National Park every year, conducted World Tourism Day Celebrations in West, East & South Garo Hills, Co-organised Tura Winter Festival "AHAIA" with Tura Arts & Culture Society & District Administration of West Garo Hills for many years.
In the tourism sector, We are the first Government registered tourism-based organization in Garo Hills that facilitate tourists coming to Garo Hills for leisure, research or film making etc. We provide Airport pick-up, Transportation, Hotel bookings, Planning, Consultations, Tour guide service, Translator, Tour manager, Itinerary management, Technical consultancy, Camera rentals, Car rentals etc. We have worked with many tourists coming from USA, UK, France, Scotland, Thailand, Japan, Nepal, Burma, Israel, Australia, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, UAE, South Africa, Maldives, Germany and many domestic tourists.
We are also conducting training on various sectors like Tourism & livelihood, Bakery & Confectioneries, Photography, Videography, Editing and other job-oriented fields. We are in a mission to cover all districts of Garo Hills in providing training and help in income generation and sustaining livelihood in the rural areas.
ATS is a registered member of Tour Operators' Association of Meghalaya (TOAM), HQ : Shillong, Meghalaya.
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A'chik Tourism Society (ATS) is a proud recipient of
1. State Tourism Award 2007 - Presented during the World Tourism Day celebration at Shillong on 27th September 2007 Presented by Mr. Charles Pyngrope, the then Tourism Minister, Government of Meghalaya.
2. Meghalaya Mission Green Award 2015 - Presented during the Republic Day celebration at Tura on 26th January 2015 Presented by Dr. Mukul M. Sangma, the then Chief Minister of Meghalaya.
3. Meghalaya Green Volunteers' Award 2016 - Presented during the Green Volunteers' Conclave 2016 at Tura on 10th June 2016. Presented by Mr. Pravin Bakshi, IAS, the then Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills, Tura.
Individual Awards :
4. Meghalaya Youth Icon Award 2012 for Conservation, Presented at Shillong on 2nd October 2012.
5. Meghalaya Mission Green Award 2015 - Presented during the Republic Day Celebration at Tura on 26th January 2015.
6. GOLD WINNER at the Outlook's Indian Responsible Tourism State Award 2023 for Grassroot Heroes category - Presented by Mr. Paul Lyngdoh, Hon'ble Minister of Tourism, Dr. Vijay Kumar D, IAS, Hon'ble Commissioner & Secretary, Tourism Department & Mr. Cyril V. Darlong Diengdoh, IAS, Director of Tourism, Government of Meghalaya during the World Tourism Day 2023 (27th Sept) celebration at the State Convention Centre, Shillong.
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Our Motto : "Ku'cholsan re'mikkange aman' a'songko rikna"
Which translates to "Together we march forward to build our motherland"
GOLD WINNER
GRASSROOT HEROES
Indian Responsible Tourism State Awards 2023
World Tourism Day 2023
State Convention Centre, Shillong.