Now, tourism tips for college students

NEW DELHI: With the tourism sector growing in leaps and bounds, the government is planning to train college and university students to help them earn while they learn.

Taking a cue from a similar strategy of multinational food chains that tap human resource from students’ community, the tourism ministry launched a training programme for college students in order to open job avenues for them in the tourism sector and in the process meet the shortage of trained workforce.

Students between 18 and 25 are given 21 days training in Indian culture, historical monuments, managerial and behavioural skills, etiquette, public speaking and presentation etc by a trained faculty of experts in the field. 

This enables them to get jobs as escorts,  with tour operators, travel agencies, hotels, exhibitors and event management companies where a they can earn anything between Rs 7,000 to 10,000 while still pursuing studies.  There is more. The students will also be given a stipend of Rs 1,000 at the end of the 21-day course.

While the tourism ministry says  the primary goal is to sensitise youths towards tourism, the real aim is to prepare a pool of trained personnel by 2010 when the Commonwealth Games begins.

The government is targeting 10 million tourists by 2010 and “there will be over two lakh jobs in this sector by 2010”, said tourism minister Ambika Soni.

After the training, the students would undergo a counseling session where representatives of the tourism sector can select them for jobs.

Applications for this programme will be invited through open advertisement in national dailies. These programmes will be conducted by the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management in its branches in Gwalior, New Delhi, Bhubneshwar and Goa. 

The first batch of 62 students began their training on Monday at the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, New Delhi.

p_vineeta@dnaindia.net