North East Council selects TAAS to impart tourism training

Rs. 1.46 CRORE BUDGET SANCTIONED FOR CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING TO BE OFFERED BY TAAS TO TOURISM STAKEHOLDERS FROM NORTH-EAST REGION
GANGTOK, 06 April: Keeping in mind the steady rise in the number of tourism-related activities prompted by the increasing number of tourist arrivals, the North Eastern Council, Ministry of DoNER, realizing the need of improved professionalism to cater to the tourists, has sanctioned a whopping Rs. 146.36 lakhs to Travel Agents Association of Sikkim [TAAS] to undertake skill- development trainings for youth from the NE region in Sikkim.
The funding has been granted under the scheme, “Skill Development and Capacity Building Training for Tour Operators and pother Tourism Stakeholders of the North East Region”, which will be implemented by TAAS and completed by end-December this year.

Addressing a press conference here in the capital today, Lukendra Rasaily, president TAAS informed that the training shall be imparted to stakeholders from all the Northeastern states including Sikkim with the direct advice and supervision of NEC (Tourism, banking and Industry Cell). TAAS will also take help from MS Bhuyan, Advisor, NEC (Tourism Banking and Industry) for the smooth implementation of the project and submit progress reports on a day to day basis.
“We have been selected from among many organizations which is a great honour and privilege for us. Actually, we had been trying this since 2008 when we were invited by the Ministry of Tourism  whom we had assured that we will promote the entire region as an eco- tourism destination,” he told reporters this afternoon.
The trainings have been categorized into secretarial practices,hospitality,accounting and book keeping, air ticketing, foreign exchange,e-commerce,banking, marketing,promotion,publicity and advertising, tour/treks and specialized guide training, technical team for mountain biking, home stay service providers, eco tourism service providers and cook training.
A group of 25 participants each will undergo training on the nine categories being offered. Only the tour/treks and specialized guides training shall see a total of 75 participants. The duration of each training programme shall be a month, after which these trainees will graduate into master trainers.
“Every state from the NE can send 3 participants each for the different courses being offered. There will also be a foreign language training of 90 days duration in which we have decided that German will be taught. There shall be a total of 300 beneficiaries”, informed Mr. Rasaily.
Also present at the press conference were Sailesh Pradhan, Vice President [South/West], Tshering Dorjee, Vice President [North/East] and executive members.
‘This is a big responsibility we have been entrusted to complete and we shall reach our objective to bring all the other NE states at par with Sikkim in the promotion of tourism and to showcase the region as a total eco- tourism destination’, he added.
It may also be informed that fooding and lodging for the participants will be borne by TAAS who will also bring in resource persons from inside and outside the state for the training.
“TAAS has been campaigning for declaration of the region as eco- tourism zone through appeals and speeches in different high- level tourism forums for the past three years. All the training will be designed to cater to the needs of eco and village tourism practices”, he explained.
Mr. Rasaily further said that the main aim of providing capacity building training to the stakeholders of the NE region is to prepare them to take up tourism business and activities to cater to the needs of the travelers in a professional manner and to bring all the North east states at par with Sikkim in the promotion, marketing of tourism product in the region.
“TAAS shall be implementing the programme along with various professional agencies and will also seek support from the state government. All professionals will be invited to impart trainings. There will be the theory as well practical training during the course period”, he informed.
Here, he added that a project director and different project managers will run the show and complete the day to day administrative works in a separate office. He informed that 8 different state coordinators will be selected from amongst the TAAS members and most of the field level trainings will be conducted by the select members of the association.
“In order to disseminate information and keep the transparency level high, a website www.taasfoundation.com has also been setup where the day to day activities of the training programme will be posted”, he concluded.