Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 4: The two- day 4th International Conference on “Sustainable Destination Excellence: Empowering Communities for Inclusive Tourism Development” concluded today at School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Jammu.
Sajad Gani Lone, Minister for Social Welfare, ARI and Trainings and Science and Teachnology, was the chief guest while Vice-Chancellor Prof R D Sharma presided over the function and Dr Amir Shani, Department of Hotel and Tourism Management, Ben Gurion University of Negev delivered the valedictory address.
The Conference was held under the convenorship of Prof Parikshat Singh Manhas, Director School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, JU, who presented the conference report wherein he talked about the various technical sessions during the conference.
Sajad Gani Lone, in his address, said that the State has enormous tourism potential but a lot needs to be done in terms of infrastructure and facilities. He discussed how the community participation plays a pivotal role in the preservation of any fragile destination.
Dr Amir Shani emphasized the importance of community participation in the tourism development and decision making process. He discussed how important it is to identify various favourable and unfavourable tourism impacts as such impacts have a grave impression on the quality of life of local residents.
Prof R D Sharma, in his concluding remarks, appreciated the theme of the conference which holds all the more relevance in the year 2017.
Prof. Keshav Sharma, Registrar University of Jammu presented the formal vote of thanks while proceedings of the day were conducted by Dr Suvidha Khanna, Conference Coordinator.
Earlier during the day, a workshop for Government tourism officers was organized which was attended by CEOs of various Tourism Development Authorities, members of Industry and civil society. Dr Wayne Liu, Deputy – Director, Tourism Bureau, Taiwan and Martin, Member Chamber and Industry, Budapest, Hungary, were the resource person. Dr Anil Gupta, Conference Secretary, coordinated the proceedings of the workshop.
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