B&Bs in remote spots: MTDC
MTDC's tie-up with online hospitality service Airbnb is with the aim of developing areas such as hill stations and fort areas as economic and tourism destinations.
Appointed this May, Vijay Waghmare, Managing Director, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has been busy since. If it’s not tackling the tourist guide problem that has been hampering Maharashtra tourism, it is the hectic co-ordination with Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) for easing processes for cruise tourism in Mumbai.
But on top of his mind is developing tourism in areas that are remote yet beautiful by virtue of it being unexplored. He says, “While the initial work after our tie up with Airbnb recently has started with Mumbai first, we want them to concentrate on remote areas of Maharashtra such as hill stations and fort areas – spots that are beautiful but lack infrastructure and accommodation facilities. We recognise a new and exciting opportunity of promoting these areas as bed and breakfast destinations. This will also strengthen the economy of these areas apart from tourism.”
Community-driven hospitality company, Airbnb has been bringing economic benefits of tourism to communities around the world that have not shared these benefits in the past. This is a particularly promising value proposition for emerging destinations such as India. Tourist guides
Training of tourist guides is also a major concern for Maharashtra’s tour operators and the new MD has announced developments on that front. “With the inception of cruise tourism in Mumbai, the demand for tourist guides is going to increase, especially the foreign language speaking guides. We will be providing training for this. In the first phase, we are planning to certify 100 tour guides and we will be focusing on people who have proficiency in foreign languages. Four cities have been identified for the first phase: Mumbai, Aurangabad, Nasik and Nagpur,” Waghmare adds.
we are planning to certify 100 tour guides and we will be focusing on people who foreign languages
MTDC will be co-ordinating with MPT for cruise operations. It is currently chalking out the nitty-gritties of it and fixing the logistical aspects that the tourists disembarking at Mumbai get annoyed with. For more details on cruises tourism, turn to page 7.