Siliguri drive to register tourism stakeholders

 The principal objective of the drive is to ensure that the state government has records of all such persons who provide different services to tourists

Members of HHTDN at the registration camp in Siliguri on Tuesday. : Passang Yolmo

Bireswar Banerjee Siliguri, 14.08.24 : An apex body of tourism stakeholders in north Bengal has taken the initiative to register service providers of the sector with the state tourism department.

The principal objective of the drive is to ensure that the state government has records of all such persons who provide different services to tourists. The exercise would also help in improving the quality of service provided to the tourists in the region underthe state.

On Tuesday, the Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network (HHTDN) which has several service providers as members, organised a registration camp at a hotel here.

“So far, there was no record of stakeholders with the state government. Whenever irregularities were reported or complaints were filed by tourists, it was difficult to identify the offenders. The department also became clueless and couldn’t take the necessary steps. Once the registration is done, the state will have detailed information about the service providers,” said Samrat Sanyal, general secretary of HHTDN.

According to him, those registered with the state tourism department include tour operators, hoteliers, adventure sports tour operators, homestay owners, restaurant owners and other private enterprises associated withthe sector.

“Once the state has a database, it can monitor all these people and companies. Further, by registering themselves with the Bengal tourism department, a service provider will have to ensure that appropriate servicesare provided to tourists,” added Sanyal.

In Siliguri, such a camp was held for the secondtime. Last month, HHTDN held a similar camp at Mainak, the state-run touristlodge located in the city’s northern part.

It may be mentioned that in the neighbouring state of Sikkim, the state government has taken a similar initiative for tour operators andother stakeholders of the tourism industry.

“It is mandatory for all such service providers to be registered with the state tourism department. Or else, they will not be allowed to do business in the state,” said a source in Sikkim.

An official of the Bengal tourism department said no such directive has been sent from the state so far.

“Yet, we have initiated the process on our own in north Bengal for the improvement of the tourism industry,” said the official.