Tourist guides to front ‘unique India experience’ at G-20 meeting venues

Source: The post is based on the article “Tourist guides to front ‘unique India experience’ at G-20 meeting venues” published in The Hindu on 3rd December 2022.

What is the News?

One thousand tourist guides would fan out across the 55 locations where G-20 meetings would be held over the next one year to facilitate the travel of foreign delegates and “ensure a unique Indian experience” for them.

How will India promote tourism during its G20 Presidency?

India has assumed the G20 Presidency. As part of this process, the government of India has embarked on a massive exercise to showcase India and training tourist guides or tourist facilitators to foreign delegates.

The training of the tourist guides is being done through the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management and Regional Directors from the Ministry of Tourism.

A major part of the training would include language skill programmes in nine foreign languages like French and German. Other focus areas would be etiquette, knowledge of local attractions and monuments, cuisines, handicrafts and souvenirs.

Apart from this, the Tourism Ministry has asked the Archaeological Survey of India to draw up a list of local monument-specific guides who would be trained as and when meetings are held in those particular cities.

The focus would be on UNESCO world heritage sites and the 100 centrally protected monuments. For example, training to boatmen would come in handy in places like Udaipur which is known for its lakes.