Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 26: A two-day National Conference on “Integrated Strategies for Marketing Tourism and Allied Services” (Under UGC SAP-DRS-II) is being organised by The Business School, University of Jammu from March 26 -27, 2014.
The gathering paid a tribute to Dharamjit Singh, a student of The Business School, who passed away on March 24, 2014. Prof. M.P Singh Ishar, Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu was the chief guest on the occasion.
Prof Ishar, in his address highlighted the role of tourism in providing employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. Prof. Nimit Chowdhary, IITTM Noida, presented his Key Note Address, speaking about the worldwide marketing of tourism and praised the branding of the Indian Tourism as ‘Incredible India.’
Prof. J.P Sharma, University of Rajasthan, during his inaugural address, shared that the magnitude of investment required in tourism is much less than that required in agriculture and other sectors. He also informed the audience that tourism is a significant contributor to the GDP of the country and elaborated on the need for a favorable change in attitude of the concerned authorities.
Soujanya Sharma, Director Tourism Jammu, urged upon the need of infrastructure development for the tourists and advocated the importance of a clear marketing strategy. Prof. Versha Mehta, The Business School in her welcome address elaborated on the outline of the initiatives to be undertaken by The Business School to promote academic research. Prof. Desh Bandhu Gupta, Dean Faculty of Business Studies made his remarks on the expectations of a tourist and also discussed about tourism opportunities in J&K.
Prof. Keshav Sharma, Coordinator, UGC SAP DRS-II, enlisted the achievements of The Business School under DRS-I in terms of research and publications and further elaborated upon the importance of UGC SAP DRS-II.
Prof. Neelu Rohmetra, Deputy Coordinator, UGC SAP DRS-II, while presenting the Conference Overview spoke about the importance of tourism and strategic interventions required for tourism promotion.
Prof. Ashok Aima, Central University Jammu, Dr. Kavita Lagathe, Director, Jamana Lal Bajaj Institute of Management, University of Mumbai and Chander Gulati, an eminent businessman of J&K also presented their views about tourism promotion in the State. During the function the conference proceedings were also released. Dr. Vinay Chauhan, Conference Organising Secretary, presented a formal vote of thanks. Dr.Anil Gupta, Asstt. Prof., The Business School conducted the proceedings of the function.
Post lunch, a panel discussion on the topic: Strategy Shift for Reengineering Tourism Services Delivery Model in J&K was conducted. The panel was moderated by Prof. Ashok Aima, Central University of Jammu. The panelists present for the panel Soujanya Sharma, Director Tourism Jammu, Jyoti Bhatti, Principal, FCI Govt., Aijaz-ur-Rehman, State Cable Car Corporation, VK Sehgal, Founder Chairman, Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh Tourism Promotion Council, Prof. B.C Sharma, The Business School, and Prof. Dipankar Sengupt, Department of Economics, University of Jammu. The panalists highlighted the need for strategic public-private partnership for sustainable tourism development and also highlighted the need for developing integrated strategies for marketing tourism and allied services.
Following this, four technical sessions were also held wherein various delegates made their presentations on the diverse issues related to the identified themes of the technical sessions. The first session on the theme- Marketing Tourism and Allied Services was chaired by Prof. Alka Sharma, Professor, The Business School and co-chaired by Dr. Neelika Arora, Assistant Professor, Central University of Jammu and Rohit Bhagat, Assistant Professor, Bhaderwah Campus, University of Jammu.
The second parallel technical session on the theme “Contemporary issues and Perspective in Management” was chiared by Prof. Sameer Gupta TBS JU and co-chaired by Dr. Amisha Gupta and Saloni Devi, Assistant Professors, The Business School.
The third technical session was conducted on the theme “Tourism Entrepreneurship: Issues and Perspectives. It was chaired by Prof. Versha Mehta, Director, The Business School and co-chaired by Dr. Suvidha Gupta, Assistant Professor, SHTM, University of Jammu and Dr. Bhanu Pratap Singh, Faculty, The Management School, Kathua Campus.
The final session of the day was conducted on the theme- Tourism Development: Issues and Perspectives. It was chaired by Dr. Rajendra Mishra, Associate Professor, The Business School, JU and co-chaired by Dr. Jaya Bhasin, Associate Professor, Central University of Jammu and Dr. Bharti Gupta, Assistant Professor, Central University of Jammu.
Jalil Ahmed Khan, Economic Advisor to the Government will deliver the valedictory session as also two parallel sessions are listed for tomorrow.
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