Aiming to nurture professionalism and hospitality among untrained or budding entrepreneurs in the domestic tourism sector, the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) under the responsible tourism initiative is getting ready to host a series of professional training programmes for investors in the field. Resource persons representing the Tourism Department and various professional institutions will lend a hand to the DTPC to proceed with the project.
The proposal for training comes in the wake of homestay operators and other local tourism facility owners hosting a large numbers of international and domestic tourists during peak seasons. The department hopes that grooming such entrepreneurs by sharing with them latest trends in the field will evoke a very favourable response from tourists and fetch its direct benefits to entrepreneurs.
The training programmes, which are expected to begin next month, mainly aim at entrepreneurs who own rated homestays or service apartments registered with the DTPC. Those who manage heritage homes or facilitate tent camps in villages can also take advantage of the proposed training sessions.
Tourism Department officials say owners of homestays, heritage homes and service villas have great opportunities in the responsible tourism sector with a lot of aids and welfare packages. According to them, the plan of the State government to promote caravan tourism and tent camping is likely to benefit a large number of young entrepreneurs in the sector.
At the same time, some of the experienced entrepreneurs in the field say they want a simplified guideline for the registration and rating of village tourism facilities. They also fear that the tie-up with any government body will drag them to unwanted technicalities and tax burdens. Many of them also point out that the existing formalities to secure star rating for homestay facilities are even “unbearable” for small-scale investors with humble income.
