When Assam government is spending in crores for promotion of tourism by roping in Bollywood diva Priyanka Chopra as the brand ambassador, the Centre has found a smart and “zero-cost” way to promote the tourism in the northeast.
The Ministry of Tourism has decided to rope in school children to promote the region as a fascinating destination. So far, overseas tourists have been shying away from northeast primarily because of the lack of promotion.
Surprisingly, Priyanka Chopra, even after being the ambassador of Assam tourism, is unable to woo global tourists to the state. People of Assam have started to raise questions about her contributions to the tourism sector.
The Northeast wing of India Tourism probably understood from the Assam experience that celebrity endorsement is not always the key to promote tourism, and decided to rope in school children as ambassadors of tourism in the region.
India Tourism, in association with Headway D Intel Club will now organise a four-day summer workshop titled as ‘The Essentials’ for the school children from July 3 to 6. The workshop will be held at the Assam State Museum.
Shoeb Samad, Northeast Regional Director of India Tourism on Monday emphasised the need to educate the children on tourism. “We need to work on imparting knowledge on tourism in our schools and colleges so that the students can explore their hidden talents and interests which can contribute to the tourism industry,” he said.
Samad further said, “Children should be taught not only about the historic places like Rang Ghar, Kareng Ghar, Kamakhya temple but also they should be taught about train connectivity, flight services to the North-eastern states of the country. That will only boost the origin meaning of tourism in the region.”
Emphasizing the need for women empowerment Samad said, “Tourism is the best industry especially for women.”
He also emphasized the need for a Tourism Research Centre for research purposes in the region. Samad appealed to the guardians to involve their children in various educational activities related to tourism.