Initiative Aimed to Calibrate Tourism Stakeholders on Covid Appropriate Behavior: Sec Tourism S. Hafeez
Jahangir Sofi
Srinagar, 23 June: With the daily Covid-19 positive case load on a declining trend in the valley, the Tourism Department in Kashmir, after the initiative of ramping up the vaccination for stakeholders associated with the Tourism Industry and who have direct interface with the tourists, is all set to kickstart the Capacity Building Measure program from today.
Officials told The Straight Line that the first phase of the training module will be kickstarted from today, and training will be held within Dal Lake, and stakeholders within Dal Lake which include Shikara Walas, Houseboat Owners and their staff will be calibrated on the adoption of Covid appropriate behavior.
“The training event is a day-long program which will start at around 12:30 PM to 4:00 PM, after which the program will commence at other tourist destinations of the valley”, officials said.
Commissioner Secretary Tourism Sarmad Hafeez told The Straight Line that the initiative is aimed to calibrate the tourism stakeholders of the valley on adoption of Covid appropriate behavior.
“When tourism stakeholders who are in direct interface with the tourists are vaccinated and calibrated on adopting the Covid appropriate behavior, that will drive confidence among the travelers and this will give them a sense of safety”, he said.
Pertinent to mention, Commissioner Secretary Tourism had earlier said, there are no restrictions for the travelers to visit the valley. However the already given SOPs and guidelines which are already in place have to be followed by everyone.
In another significant development towards the reviewing the tourism in the valley, district Anantnag also opened all public paid parks in the district, after the State Executive Committee (SEC) authorized the concerned Deputy Commissioners of the Union Territory of the Jammu and Kashmir, to take a call on opening of public paid parks after taking the assessment of the conditions and after according due consideration, subject to Covid appropriate measures.
The officials further said, after being classified as a priority sector for Covid immunization, around 85 percent of tourist industry stakeholders have been vaccinated, and the department is working to ensure that those who have not been vaccinated are vaccinated.
Notably, the valley’s tourism department has enlisted the help of the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) and other agencies to calibrate the stakeholders on the module.
