IITFC targets promoting micro-tourism in country
    Date :11-Apr-2021

IITFC _1  H x W
 
 
By Anshuman Bhargava :
 
The Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification (IITFC) (e-programme) is a new concept of online tourist facilitator course for volunteers, launched recently by the Centre. It is part of the Incredible India concept targeted at promoting micro-tourism, i.e. tourism in the deep hinterlands of India, with the involvement of the local populace, away from the conventional hot-spots that are saturated. The aim of the programme is to promote tourism in every area of the country as this country houses tourist attractions in every nook and corner, which often remain hidden due to lack of adequate information or facilities like safety, connectivity and access.
 
“They should be presented in front of the tourist. For this we require tourist facilitators everywhere,” said Alok Sharma Director of Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM). The programme aspires to reach out to a far-flung audience encompassing a diversity of candidates ranging from an enthusiastic student who has recently qualified for higher secondary to an ambitious homemaker willing to grasp tourist facilitation skills from the comfort of their home. Sharma was all praise for this novel concept of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He added that Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel has himself taken personal interest in promotion of this concept. Sharma added that recently the Tourism Minister announced in Rajya Sabha that the result of the first online exam of IITFC was declared. The pass-outs would get 15-day training of communication seminars after which they would be able to facilitate tourists. This would be a mighty step towards changing the concept of the tourism industry and involving locals. After the training is over all these tourist facilitators would become part of e-market place for tourist facilitators and would be accessible globally.
 
“This would be of great service to domestic and foreign tourists both who want to unearth the hidden treasures of Indian culture and heritage,” said Rupinder Brar, ADG Tourism. Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel is an optimistic that this new concept of Prime Minister Modi will put an end to the problems faced by both domestic and foreign tourists. He said that now tourists would explore the real India. It would also help in making the country self reliant. He added that despite the epidemic of corona, the number of tourist facilitators is quite high and it would touch the target of 5,000 soon. With the end of the corona phase sooner or later, tourism is set to see a major boost, as people, after the long period of crisis, will go out in large numbers to visit places and breath in some fresh air to rejuvenate themselves. This is an opportunity we must cash in by preparing a skilled work force to take them places, hitherto unseen or unknown. With the major tourist spots of the country already anticipating a house full season ahead, it is the lesser known beauties which many discerning tourists will long for and herein comes the utility of this new concept. The initiative, if and when it comes to full fruition, will not only introduce tourists to new unexplored vistas but also give an impetus to the rural economy and logistic paraphernalia that tourism activities necessitate.
 
It will not only provide jobs to the locals but also bring in ancillary benefits by way of greater coverage and exposure of the places in the tourist itinerary that lead to spawning of more travel and hospitality related businesses and increasingly diversifying tourist activities. Since both the facilitators and the tourists involved are digitally monitored, tracked and arbitrated by the government, there is very little chance of mistrust, fraud or irregularities that many a times mar the tourist experience. Under this concept, there are ample provisions, checks and balances to make the tourist feel safe and pampered, so that he/she can fearlessly travel around without worrying for his/her money or safety. For instance, the tourist can check the credentials of the facilitator online to ensure that the person is a certified and designated tourist facilitator approved by the Government. Conceptually, it may be implemented later that the tourist doesn’t even need to pay any money/fees directly to the facilitator, that may be done through Govt., directly to the account of facilitator.
 
If the concept takes off the way it has been envisaged, we can have more and more such facilitators in the loop and more hidden gems can be unearthed and honed. Tourism is a big and thriving industry that can be a perennial source of revenue generation and India has the additional advantage of its size and diversity to reap the best benefits out of this. We only need greater innovation and upkeep to be the leading tourist draw of the world. India is strewn with historical and architectural marvels like temples, churches, mosques, stupas, forts and palaces dating back hundreds and thousands of years, and natural beauties like rivers, lakes, forests, hills, valleys and plantations and pastures, that give the tourist the benefit of choosing according to his taste and mood. We are a widely diverse cultural ecosystem with every village offering something new and different from the other.
 
Our ethnicity, religion, beliefs, customs, totems, arts, costumes, dances-everything keeps changing every few miles as the crow flies and this is a unique phenomenon hardly found anywhere in the world. Much of this natural diversity is missed by the tourist unless he/she comes out of the metros and major cities that provide but only a very small glimpse of the actual beauty and vastness of India. It is here that the utility of the programme will be felt. It is hand-holding the tourist to show him beyond the obvious and providing him a different taste and slice of experience that will stay with him as a unique memory. The government also on its part needs to upgrade the basic infrastructure like power, roads and digital connectivity, which are today the basic essentials every tourist deserves and expects, and are missing in the rural set-up, at least in many pockets on our country, that need to be attended to urgently. We need to go out of the run-of-the-mill scheme of things and create a more enriching experience for the traveller not just be improving the facilities but also by bringing in new concepts and innovations, like many countries have started doing, leveraging their ethnic portfolio, more so because the real India is not in her cities and landmark showpieces, but in her smallest towns and villages- and the people therein, in all their homely candour and naturalness- that uphold the actual richness of our cultural heritage through the daily practice of living rituals.