TTDC training for tourist guides
Photo: R. Ragu
Boosting tourism: Tourism Minister N. Suresh Rajan (second from right) interacting with Tourist Guides at the launch of the Guide Training Course in Chennai on July 19. To his left is M. Rajaram, Director of Tourism and Managing Director, TTDC.
With a view to creating employment opportunities and also showcasing Tamil Nadu’s tourist spots in a better perspective to globe-trotting tourists, the State Tourism Department and the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) have launched a specialised tourist guide training programme for youths.
Candidates in the age group of 20 – 40, with a degree from a recognised university are eligible to take up this 10-day training programme which includes three-days of field visit.
The Government has decided to train 400 tourist guides, and in the first batch, 34 applicants were chosen from Chennai, Mamallapuram, and Cuddalore areas to be part of the training programme organised along with the Anna Institute of Management, Chennai.
After Chennai, the programme in two batches would be held in Madurai involving 70 applicants who are drawn from Madurai, Dindigul, Udhagamandalam, and Salem. And the third programme comprising 44 applicants would be held in Thanjavur covering Thanjavur, Tiruchi, Nagapattinam and Pudukkottai, and the fourth one in Kanyakumari, involving 36 applicants drawn from Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram and Tuticorin. In all, 184 unemployed persons will be trained as “tourist guides” and made to work in Chennai, Mamallapuram, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Udhagamandalam, and Thanjavur.
Detailing the importance of tourist guides to showcase the best and lesser known spots of ‘Enchanting Tamil Nadu’, the Director of Tourism and Managing Director of TTDC, M. Rajaram, said the Government was of the view that one of the grey areas was dissemination of correct information to discerning tourists and thought it fit to mould a batch of guides to fill this vacuum.
The Secretary Incharge of Tourism and Culture Department, T.S. Sridhar, said a professional tourist guide would be able to persuade overseas tourists to extend their period of stay or come again.
The Director General of Training and Director of Anna Institute of Management, A. Nagarajan, said that after consulting with travel trade and tourism experts, the contents of the guide training programme was prepared so that the guides are moulded to meet the future requirements of the growing travel trade industry.
K.N. Anandhi, an approved tour guide and an academic counsellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and also a faculty member of the training programme, said the need of the hour for the tourist department is to have trained guides by infusing professionalism in their approach and attitude towards greeting overseas visitors. Tourist guides are the true cultural ambassadors and their profession is a challenging one, she said.
T. S. SHANKAR
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Education Plus
Karnataka
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
