Sustainable tourism camp held in Chamba
An awareness camp aimed at promoting rural and sustainable tourism was organised on Monday in Jammuhaar, an emerging tourist destination near Chamba, by the District Tourism Development Department, in collaboration with the Khabbidhar Tourism Development Organisation.
The event, chaired by District Tourism Development Officer Rajeev Mishra, focused on increasing tourism awareness among the residents of the rural area.
During the camp, Mishra talked about the ongoing efforts by the administration to develop Khabbidhar as a tourism destination — a rural area with immense potential. He highlighted the department’s initiative on rural and sustainable tourism, aiming to involve local youth in the tourism business.
Mishra said the tourism sector offered various opportunities for self-employment, which could brighten the future of the youth of the area.
The main objective of the camp was to raise awareness about tourism among the area’s youth, with plans to organise more such camps in the future.Manuj Sharma, co-founder of Not on Map, an NGO promoting sustainable tourism, was the special guest at the camp.
He spoke about several locations in the district that could be developed for winter and summer tourism.
Sharma also shared his experiences of working in the tourism industry during the camp. Meena Sharma, a faculty member from the Rural Self-Employment Training Institute of the SBI, provided information about the various training courses offered by the institute to youth interested in the tourism sector.
She said SBI provided 10-day training sessions in 61 different courses through the institute, with the age limit for applicants set between 18 and 45 years.
The event was attended representatives of several panchayats, SBI Director Manish Kumar, Khabbidhar Tourism Development Organisation president Rajinder Thakur, taxi operators, tour guides and others.
