Port Blair, Feb 17: Indiatourism Port Blair has organized Incredible India Tourist Facilitator (IITF) Certification Programme on 14.02.2020 and 15.02.2020 at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute of Technology and Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkeeya Mahavidyalaya (JNRM), Port Blair that focuses on the online courses, certified by Ministry of Tourism Govt. of India for creating a pool of trained professionals for facilitating the visit of tourists at destinations across the country, including lesser known destinations.
Tourist Facilitators are essentially interpreters of the place/event /experience and most important touch point for the visitor.
Capacities building become essential for enhancing the efficiency of all the stakeholders of the industry. The success will, to a large extent, depends upon the competence of the person mediating the experience for the visitor. This role would invariably be played by the Tourist Facilitator. Tourist Facilitator is the most important touch point for the visitor who is likely to spend most of her / his time with this mediator of experience.
In today’s context, one of the biggest hurdles being faced in the tourism industry in India is the presence of quality and quantity gaps. The numbers of places of tourist importance are many as opposed to the short supply of trained Tourist Facilitators. Further, in many cases the existing Facilitators do not possess requisite skills and knowledge, thereby disappointing the visitors and causing harm to the brand Incredible India.
A general trend observed is that many individuals begin working as casual tour escorts for tour companies and such escorts are increasingly being used as Tourist Facilitators and interpreters of the place. They are often not adequately skilled, and lack domain knowledge about the destinations.
A stalwart initiative in this regard is the introduction of the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification (IITFC) Programme, a digital initiative that aims at the creation of an online learning platform to facilitate tourism learning at the candidate’s own time, space, path and pace, eventually paving the way for the creation of Certified Tourist Facilitators of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. For registration log on to: www.iitf.gov.in / Helpline No. : 1800 180 6479
