Tourism sector untapped

Tirupati: Those engaged in tourism sector must aware of the Indian cultural heritage as it is the major resource for tourism development in the country.

India with its rich cultural heritage including temples, monuments, holy rivers and festivals provides a vast scope for tourism which still remain far from fully tapped for the growth of tourism sector for direct and indirect employment of thousands of youth and also boosting economy, said former deputy director of Archaeology J Vijayakumar.

Delivering a lecture on the topic of ‘Indian cultural heritage a major resource for tourism development’ organised by Sri Venkateswara University’s Tourism department here on Wednesday, Vijayakumar said that travel is an ancient phenomena and in the olden days it is a must for the princes to go on a tour of their kingdom before ascending the throne while undertaking pilgrimage to holy places is a well-established practice in our tradition still continuing. He also stressed on schools organising educational tours regularly for the children which would go a long way in broaden the vision of the future citizens and also boosting tourism.

Tourism department coordinator D Ananda Naidu said that the university introduced the post graduate course in tourism (MA-Tourism) keeping in view of the dire need of skilled personnel in the burgeoning tourism sector.

The department is conducting every year series of lectures on relevant topics like tour operations, international tour package, religious tourism, tourist attractions, ticketing, passport, Visa processing etc. to the students as part of the two-year course in Tourism which has a good demand in places like Tirupati, the world-famous pilgrim centre where many international tour operators functioning.

Faculty members Thimmappa, Sivakumar and others also spoke on the various employment opportunity in tourism and hospitality sector.