Yuva Clubs to nurture young ambassadors of Indian tourism

Hyderabad: The Union Ministry of Tourism has come out with an innovative idea of establishing 'YUVA Tourism Clubs' as part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations.

The CBSE has been instructed to form such clubs in its affilaited institutions. According to "Yuva Tourism Clubs– handbook for schools-2022", the clubs will nurture and develop young ambassadors of the Indian tourism. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has already come forward to support the initiative of the Ministry of Tourism.

The Union ministry said in the handbook that the young ambassadors would play a catalysts role in promoting tourism in India. The tourism clubs will facilitate development of soft skills mainly teamwork, management, leadership and also encouraged the adoption of responsible tourism practices and concern for sustainable tourism. The clubs will help children to be more aware about their States and neighborhood along with the cultural aspects.

"The vision is to nurture and develop young ambassadors of Indian tourism, who through thought, word, and deed would promote the cultural heritage of India. The focus would be to foster ideals which are in harmony with sustainable development", Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy said, adding uouths are the best ambassadors of India and its rich cultural, spiritual and natural heritage.

The activities of the clubs will integrate with activities of other clubs as tourism, culture, and heritage are also part of subjects taught in school. The multiple stakeholders can get together for various purposes.

The teachers and schools are encouraged to incorporate allied activities under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) programme like excursion, online or e-tourism, pen pals in the paired state/UT, learning the language of the paired state/UT, having exposure to the diversity, natural resources and rich heritage of India, the hand book said.

YUVA Tourism Clubs will also enable learners to appreciate the importance of travel and tourism, ignite a passion for tourism and its value in learners, sensitise learners to various elements of travel, encourage, teach and propagate responsible tourism practices, improve physical and mental health through exploratory, adventure and sports tourism and spread awareness about tourism opportunities at an early stage and encourage learners to be skilled professionals and entrepreneurs in the hospitality and tourism sector.