Promoting Village Tourism through ICT in South Sikkim

NAMCHI, 22 Aug [IPR]: A Promotion and Marketing meeting to promote Village Tourism and Home-Stay through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in association with Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) was held at Panchayat Bhawan, Namchi today.
The STDC organized program was chaired by Deputy Director (South) Department of Tourism & Civil Aviation, Anita Rai and also attended by CEO  STDC, Binita Rai; representatives from South District Tourism Development Society (SSTDS); Government Officials; Panchayats; Hoteliers; Travel Agents; members of South District Taxi Driver’s Association and Tourism Stakeholders.
The Dy Director Anita Rai welcomed the gathering and informed that about 220 houses had been allocated for Home-Stay tourism so far in the South district. She also laid down the objectives of holding the meeting that aims at promoting and developing Tourism sector in South district.
Addressing the gathering, STDC CEO, Binita Rai presented a power point presentation where she provided a brief background and the aims and objectives of STDC which is a fully self-sustained corporation. She brought to light the training opportunities created by STDC under the ‘Hunar Se Rozgar Tak’ scheme that provides free of cost training in hospitality for those interested.
Ms Rai also spoke about the numerable business ventures available for the stakeholders that are existent on revenue sharing basis.  In addition, she laid focus on the commercial ventures and services for enhancing the Tourism sector in South district.
Giving her insights on the various methods to further boost the tourism economy, she highlighted the varied tourist destinations in the district and what can be done further in order to attract tourists globally.  Ms. Rai also familiarized the stakeholders present on the occasion about the E-business and IT-Sub Hubs that they could avail, to amplify marketing of Village Tourism and Home-Stays in the state.
The program also saw handing over of desktop to Sadam Village Tourism Association by STDC, Gangtok to commend the work done by the association in the area of Tourism followed by an interactive session between the officials and stakeholders.