A free tourism-oriented ‘Training programme for chauffeurs’, is being jointly organised by Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA) and Travel iQ, a tour operator, at Andhra University from Tuesday.
Cab drivers would be the first point of contact for tourists at a new place. Their behaviour, attitude, appearance and knowledge of local tourist places make a huge impact on tourists. The State government had decided to train the ‘tourism brand ambassadors’ in these areas in a bid to promote tourism in the State,” Vice Chancellor G. Nageswara Rao told the media here on Monday.
The target of the one-day training programmes, being organised in association with AU, Department of Tourism, Police, Andhra Medical College (AMC) and the Transport Department, was to train 600 drivers in the first phase.
The police officials would teach the participants on the importance of adhering to traffic rules to avoid unnecessary detention by traffic police and thereby causing inconvenience to tourists and giving them a bad impression. Doctors would give them the basics of First Aid and how to deal with the situation, when a tourist becomes suddenly ill.
Regional Director of AP Tourism Development Corporation Srinivas said Travel iQ improved the training module by suggesting changes. The participating drivers would be provided free working lunch, snacks and ₹500 as stipend as they would have to forego their livelihood for a day.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ramesh Kumar, Dr. Raj Kamal, professor in AMC, Professor N. Sambasiva Rao of the AU Department of Commerce and Management Studies and Kodali Usha Priya of Travel iQ spoke.
Replying to queries, Mr. Srinivas the Regional Director of APTDC said there were 7,000 cab drivers in the city and they were all eligible to participate in the training programme.
To the suggestion of a reporter, the Vice-Chancellor agreed that it was a good idea to train autorickshaw drivers also on safety and behaving properly with tourists and passengers. He said the suggestion would be sent to the government.
