Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Taxi drivers to be made tourist-friendly

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Tourism has chalked out programmes to impart training to tourist taxi drivers in the State as part of the efforts to ensure quality service to travellers coming from different parts of the world.

To be taken up under the ‘Let’s Learn’-the ambitious Human Resource initiative of Kerala Tourism that was laun ched recently, Minister for Tourism Kodiyeri Balakrishnan will kick off the training programme for the taxi drivers at a function to be held in the capital on October 8.

As many as 210 tourist taxi drivers attached to the recognised unions and operating pre-paid taxies from Thiruvananthapuram international airport will be imparted training in the capital in the first phase. The taxi drivers will be given three days training as part of the efforts to make them tourist-friendly. The aim is to make them responsible persons as they are the first persons from the tourism industry whom the tourists come in contract on arrival. ‘Let’s Learn’ initiative is aimed towards developing skills in the personnel serving in various capacities in the tourism sector. The programme is being coordinated by the Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KITTS) and the Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology (IHMCT), Kovalam. The training programme for the taxi drivers will be through the KITTS. “We need to re-orient our existing approaches and practices to become role models in hospitality industry. The demand and the topics to be covered has come from the drivers and it is a welcome change’, Secretary, Kerala Tourism, V. Venu told The Hindu

The modules to be covered include basic tourism aspects, role of the taxi driver in the industry, guest relations, and communication skills, first aid, cleanliness and hygiene. The taxi drivers will also be taught Hindi, English, French and German to enable them to speak in that language to the guests. At the end of the training, Kerala Tourism will also provide identity card —‘prepaid tourist taxi driver — to those who complete the training.

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