TAPping soft skills! Ministry of Tourism in India rolls out Tourism Awareness Programme

India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, launched Tourism Awareness Programme (T.A.P) for taxi, cab, and coach drivers to offer behavioural and soft skill training.

The programme has been launched under the ‘Capacity Building for Service Provider’ (CBSP) Scheme, and was launched by Dr. Sambit Patra, chairman, ITDC. Dr Patra also released the training manual, jointly with Piyush Tiwari, Director, Commercial & Marketing, and Harsh Bhutani, GM, Ashok Institute of Hospitality & Tourism Management (AIHTM).

Speaking at the event, Dr. Sambit Patra, Chairman, ITDC said: “Over the last 2 years, the tourism industry has witnessed a tidal shift in its growth, and with the world gradually opening up, we need to take crucial steps towards redefining the Tourist services. With this program, we aim to enhance the learnings of ‘saarthis’ and to provide them with the right skill set to effectively and efficiently present themselves and service the tourists exploring Incredible India”. Dr Patra applauded the Women Drivers and emphasized their importance in ensuring the comfort of foreign tourists arriving in our country.”

The Tourism Awareness Program being conducted by the Ashok Institute of Hospitality & Tourism Management (AIH&TM), ITDC has been curated post identifying the necessity of Soft Skill training of taxi/coach drivers as they are the first interface for the tourists who arrive at the Airports, Railway stations etc.

The training programme has been designed very professionally and is flexible in nature, keeping in mind the daily wage/earning pattern of the Drivers. Spread across 16 hours, it focuses on imparting knowledge about behavioural & soft skills, personal hygiene and grooming, basic acquaintance of foreign languages, first-aid administering etc. enabling the drivers to service the tourists.