The associations of tourism stakeholders based in north Bengal and northeast are hosting various training programmes to hone the skills of homestay owners, drivers and others associated with the sector so that they can deliver better quality services to guests.

In Rikisum, a village under the Lava block of Kalimpong, the Calcutta regional office of the Union tourism ministry hosted a training programme in association with the Experience Incredible Journey, a trust working on community tourism, on Sunday.

“We organised the daylong training so that homestay owners in the hamlets of Kalimpong can know how to get recognition for their accommodations in the bed-and-breakfast scheme of the Centre and also how they can enroll their properties under the NIDHI (National Integrated Data Base of Hospitality Industry) portal,” Debashis Chakraborty, the trustee of Experience Incredible Journey, said.

“The idea is to ensure that they provide quality services when tourists in,” he added.

Another training programme for homestay owners in progress at Rikisum in Kalimpong on Sunday

Around 100 participants from 20-odd villages like Rishap, West Pakthang, Santook, Permanent Forest Busty, Maurung, Lingsey, Echey Gaon, Sillary Gaon and Pitamchen joined the programme.

After the training session, the participants joined in other activities like the distribution of biodegradable dustbins and distributions of plants to disseminate the message about the conservation of nature.

Representatives of the Kalimpong Eco-Travelers Welfare Society also joined the training. “Training like this is necessary for the improvement of the homestay accommodations which are providing an alternative earning option for people across the hills, particularly those in rural areas,” said Rojen Rail, the president of the society who has been running an accommodation since 2002.

In Siliguri, the Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network (HHTDN) organised a daylong training programme for cab drivers at a private hotel on Monday.

“The drivers were trained so that they follow traffic rules, have information about tourist destinations and maintain proper etiquette and behaviour so that tourists feel safe and confident while travelling in this region,” said Samrat Sanyal, the general secretary of the HHTDN.

They also organised a plantation drive in ward 23 of the city and a registration programme for tourism stakeholders in association with the Bengal tourism department.

“We are carrying out the registration to prepare a comprehensive database of such tourism stakeholders in north Bengal. Such a database is necessary for policy decisions,” Sanyal added.

The Association for Conservation & Tourism (ACT) is also hosting a five-day training programme for homestay owners in Chuikhim of Kalimpong since January 25. Every year, January 25 is observed as National Tourism Day.

“Altogether, representatives of 26 homestays on the fringes of the Raimona National Park in Assam’s Kokrajhar district are attending the training. The idea is to provide a strong market linkage to the local communities with tourists intending to visit the region,” said Raj Basu, the ACT convener.