Weeklong training on Rural Tourism Guides & Photography held in Darap

IMPORTANCE OF POST TRAINING FOLLOW-UP DISCUSSED DURING VALEDICTORY FUNCTION
ANAND OBEROI
DARAP, 03 Sept: Training and capacity building programmes are being conducted in full swing in various capacities throughout the state, however with no post follow-up on most of these programmes, the actual aim and objective of creating specialized manpower in different sectors especially in the tourism and service industry is still an issue that needs to be addressed.
This issue of the post-training impacts was discussed, deliberated and addressed at the valedictory function of a week-long Training on Rural Tourism Guides & Photography that started on 27 August  which was organized by Darap Eco Tourism Committee (DEC) in collaboration with Tourism and Civil Aviation Department, TAAS and IPR department and sponsored by Ministry of Tourism, GoI yesterday.
A total of 20 participants from Darap, Nambu, Yuksom and Pelling underwent the training programmes that dealt with both theory and practicals on rural guiding that included bird watching, identification of local flora and fauna with their English names and a specialized course on technical aspects of photography. The participants were all lodged at Darap village during the entire tenure of the seven-day training programme.
Present as resource persons were well-known Ornithologist, Chewang Bonpo who dealt with the bird-watching aspect and rural guiding aspect, Keshav Chettri, photographer, IPR department and Manoj Chettri, senior information assistant, Tourist Information Centre, Pelling who took sessions on rural tourism guides and highlighted their roles responsibilities. The valedictory function saw the participation of a number of local entrepreneurs including the ward Panchayat member, Darap – Nambu GPU, ML Subba as the chief guest, the special guest included local entrepreneur,  Chungdala Bhutia of Panchak tours and travels, Pelling.
“The existing trend of participants taking up training programmes just for the certificates has still not been able to fill the void of specialized local personnel in the service sector. This apparent problem should now be understood by the participants who now have to use this practical knowledge and capitalize on the same with an aim to cater to the niche market,” urged Sushil Tamang, president, DEC while addressing the gathering at the function.
While stating that practical implementation of these training programmes in their respective localities where tourism in the past ten years has grown ten-fold would result in a sustainable and prospective livelihood the DTC president stressed on an action oriented approach from all the participants.
“The government is just a facilitator and these training programmes have a vision for the future, it is now up to us to make the best out of these programmes and create our own base of professionals through whom we can give the visitors an even better tourism experience here. We are making a mark for ourselves in the service sector through our unique products like home-stays, now we have to strive and set examples for others to follow,” he explained.
An interactive session where the participants shared their experiences was also conducted during the function.
Later during the day a special programme, was also organized by DTC at Cherry Village Resort, Darap. Power-point presentations were made by the participants on the impact of the training programmes to a gathering which had the presence of the area MLA, PL Subba, Zilla Adhyaksha, West district Zilla Panchayat, Karma Choki Bhutia, Chairman, Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation, NK Subba, executive members of the West Sikkim Tourism Society (WSTS) and Pelling Tourism Development Association (PTDA) and public of Yangthang constituency.
The function also saw a citation being presented to the out-going DC West, Santa Pradhan by DTC. Similarly, WSTS felicitated the new Zilla Adhyaksha while a letter of appreciation was awarded to president, PTDA, Tshering Wangdi Bhutia for his pioneering and commendable works in the field of tourism by DTC.