Port Blair, Mar. 8: The Tourist Guide Training Program organised by Tourism Department in association with Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM), Bhubaneswar for 12 days in Port Blair from Feb. 26, concluded today. About 150 local aspirants from different Islands successfully completed this training program.

The Director (Tourism), Dr. Jatinder Sohal while addressing the participants in the valedictory program congratulated them for getting this opportunity as the Department had made tremendous efforts for organising this training program and getting them trained by resource persons from the best institute of the country. He requested the candidates to share their experience and feedback.

Three participants namely A.Ranjani, Kaushik Dey & Sristi Kerketta shared their feedbacks regarding the knowledge they gained from this training program specially from the field training which would help them to mould their career & livelihood options in this vibrant tourism industry. One of the trainee said that he joined the tourism industry just to earn his pocket expenses but after seeing the potentials in this sector in this training programme he came to know that he could not only earn his pocket money but also generate employment for others and give them livelihood options.

During this 12 days training program, the participants were provided insights on the Concepts of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’, Conceptual Framework of Tourism, Code of Conduct for Tourist Guide, Travel formalities, Cultural History of India and A&N Islands, Professional need for Tourist Guide, Role of Museum in Cultural Tourism, Communication skills & personality development, Understanding Group behaviour, Professional need for Tourist Guide, Personal Hygiene & Tour Guiding Skill, PAT Regulations and Safety, Security of Tourist in Andaman and importance of destinations. They were given field exposure in all the museums, heritage sites, beaches, nature parks & Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island. The trainees made a role play as guides for different destinations given to them so as to develop the necessary communication skills and language proficiency to excel in the tourism industry. This training will help in bridging the gap of well-trained tourist guides for the travellers visiting the Islands. The resource persons from IITTM Dr. Subramanian gave an overview of the training program while Dr. Swajan from IITTM Bhubaneswar proposed the vote of thanks.