27 Sep 2016|Noida | F2 Auditorium
Industry experts urged for Disabled Friendly Tourism during World Tourism Day celebrations at Amity University
Tofoster the significance of Tourism in India and across the Globe amongstbudding professionals, Amity Institute of Travel and Tourism (AITT) celebratedWorld Tourism Day during 13th Annual Convention on theme “PromotingUniversal Accessibility for All in Tourism & Hospitality: Global viz-a-vizIndian Perspective” at University Campus, Sector 125, Noida.
WorldTourism Day is celebrated to foster awareness in the international communityabout the importance of Tourism and its social, cultural, political andeconomic value. The UNWTO theme for this year is “Tourism for All”.
Theprogamme witnessed the presence of eminent personalities including Shri.Keshav Chandra , IAS, Secretary, Tourism Government of National CapitalTerritory of Delhi GNCTD; His Excellency Mr. Avaz D. Khodjiev,Counsellor, Trade and Economic Embassy of Uzbekistan; Mr. Sanjay Dang, ManagingDirector, Le Travel World & Uni Globe (India); Mr. Pran Dasan, CountryHead, Fly Dubai Air and Mr. Naveen Rizvi, Regional Director, India & IndianOcean, Pacific World, a TUI Group Company.
Welcomingthe august gathering, Dr. (Prof.) Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, AmityUniversity Uttar Pradesh said that every individual has the right to accessleisure and tourism services, yet there are 1 billion people around the worldwho still face obstacles during travel. She stressed that it is important toanalyze on how to include these people to be part of tourism sector both insubjective and objective manner. She pointed that planet earth not only hasplaces for leisure tourism but also offers tourism for education,entertainment, cultural and heritage exchange etc. Thus, considering this asgreat development opportunity for industry, accessibility for all should be animportant part of business strategies and government policies.
Addressingthe gathering, Shri. Keshav Chandra said that Tourism is a valuablecombination of public-private partnership wherein intervention of governmentand participation of private sector is required for right growth of the sector.He averred that that there are two sides of Tourism, demand and supply. Thedemand side of tourism believes that with growth of economy, technology andleisure time; more people will travel to explore and improve the standard oflife. The supply side believes that with growth of Tourism sector, there willbe boost in economy, tax revenue and forex exchange. Mr. Chandra stressed thatTourism is a growth model with fundamental principal of taking care of localfeatures and heritage to attract tourists as tourism cannot be created invacuum. He pointed that 21% population requires some assistance whiletravelling hence, it is important for tourism industry to look into thepotential aspects. Accessibility for all tourists to any destination shouldn’tbe restricted because of unavailability of any service.
Sharinghis concern over travel issues, Mr. Sanjay Dang said that 50% of globalpopulation has some form of mobility restriction such as disability, along withyoung children, seniors and persons with other access requirements. He sharedthat technology is playing a leveler to create mechanism for barrier freetourism. Mostly in developed countries tourist destinations are disablefriendly, but a lot still needs to be done for people to have travelaccessibility at all around the world. Mr. Dang called upon buddingprofessionals to work on idea for creating accessibility for all includingdisabled and elderly people that will change the paradigm of Tourism industry.
Sharinghis views on role of Indian Aviation in Tourism Sector, Mr. Pran Dasansaid that Indian Aviation is currently the 9th largest air travelmarket but there are only 0.05 air trips per capita which is the lowest amongstBRIC countries. He highlighted that considering the tourism potential in India,there is a requirement for 1850 aircraft for India till 2032. Mr. Dasan mentionedthat in 2015, the country had 8.02 million foreign visitors while neighboringcountries like Thailand had 29.9 million visitors, Malaysia had 25.7 million,15.2 million to Singapore and 14.2 million to Dubai. He further added thatIndian Tourism Industry has ample potential in attracting more foreign touriststhrough religious tourism, medical tourism and nature/heritage tourism whichneeds to be widely promoted. Mr. Dasan opined that it is required to change theaviation policies and permit foreign airlines to access secondary cities thatwill not offer better connectivity for foreign tourists but will also enhancelocal employment opportunities and local economic growth.
Duringthe celebrations, students of Amity Institute of Travel and Tourism presented aCultural Programme comprising folk dance, song and Fashion Show.
The13th Annual Convention was attended by Prof. (Dr.) M. Sajnani,Dean Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism and Director, AITT, facultymembers, staff and more than 500 students of Amity University.