PTI
Minister of State for Tourism, Renuka Chowdhury launched 'Athiti Devo Bhavah (Treat your guest like God)' campaign aimed at providing the inbound tourist a sense of being welcomed in the country. The campaign will target the Indian masses as a whole, while focusing mainly on the stakeholders of the tourism industry. The campaign will provide training and orientation to taxi drivers, guides, immigration officers, tourist police, restaurant owners and other persons directly interacting with the tourists. It will also educate the public at large.

The campaign will based on seven points - Sensitisation, Screening, Induction, Training & Orientation, Certification and Feedback of key stakeholder of the Tourism Industry in India. The campaign will be rolled out in a phased manner over a period of three years. In the first phase Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Goa and Aurangabad would be covered. During the first six months 2600 persons will be trained and given certificates and logo of 'Atithi Devo Bhavah' to display at their taxi, restaurants or installation. The performance will be reviewed and further training will be provided for update. The training programme will be conducted by experts at two levels. Level I will primarily train the taxi drivers, guides, porters etc in the form of nukkad training, road show and classroom programme. The Level II training will be a classroom program focussing on immigration officials, tourist police etc. After the successful completion of the training programme, a certificate will be issued to the participants. Speaking at the launch of 'Athiti Devo Bhavah' campaign, Renuka Chowdhury said, "Atithi Devo Bhavah' is a nationwide campaign aimed at sensitising people to India's rich cultural heritage, its preservation, cleanliness, hospitality and bringing out an attitudinal shift among the masses towards tourists".

Renuka Chowdhury further added, "Atithi Deva Bhavah is the symbolic representation of India's age old hospitality and with this campaign, we are trying to re-instill in the stake holders a sense of pride and responsibility towards tourists, while positioning India's position as a popular tourist destination worldwide". The Ministry of Tourism is looking at reinventing India's diversity, modernity and cultural heritage while focusing on sustainability and environmental aspects.