Bird Academy, the educational arm of Bird Group, received a Letter of Intent from the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India for imparting an especially designed Soft Skills Training Program to more than 3000 participants of the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification (IITFC) Programme.
The training program, to be delivered as part of Bird Group’s CSR initiatives has been crafted by the team of experts at Bird Academy and will focus on customer service, grooming, etiquette and communication in tour guiding. Each training module would be delivered over an eight-hour power packed, live and interactive online training programme over two days. These participants will focus on promoting tourism across various states of India and will be trained within a period of one year. Each batch will comprise of minimum 50 students.
The event held at IITTM, Gwalior was attended (virtually) by Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Govt. Of India and was graced by G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of the North Eastern Region of India, Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State, Tourism and Defence, Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism, Vivek Narayan, Member of Parliament and Prof Dr. Alok Sharma, Director, IITTM.
In his address, Mr. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation mentioned, “Tourism is the backbone of a nation, tourism and civil aviation are like two sides of the same coin. Each of these cannot function without the support of the other. Hence, there must be a strong coordination between the two. Together they don’t just support the economy, but also generate employment.” He also mentioned that tour guides must be given the opportunity to enhance their soft skills so that they can appropriately present the vast Indian cultural heritage to tourists and keep our culture and traditions alive.
Minister G. Kishan Reddy said that the government is working on all aspects of tourism – heritage, cultural, religious, adventure, wildlife, rural, medical, cruises, films and green tourism. He also announced a 50% discount for IITFCP women participants, going forward.
Mrs. Radha Bhatia, Chairperson, Bird Group said, “We are honoured to be chosen by the Ministry of Tourism for this noble initiative, that will enable skill development and employment among youth, besides adding immense value to India’s dynamic tourism, aviation and hospitality industry.”
Bird Academy, the educational arm of Bird Group, was set up in 1998 recognizing education as a key enabling factor, not only for business but for society at large. Bird Academy focuses on providing skill development by training students to enable them to gain necessary skills and qualification in the travel, tourism and aviation sector to meet the demands of the job sector thus providing a multi skilled, competent and efficient work force. The Academy has developed, customized multiple training programmes in consultation with experts from the industries and trains more than 5000 students per year.
Bird Academy has spread its wings to work towards community, capacity building, empowerment of youth and women and skill development in the best possible way in aviation, hospitality, travel & tourism, BPO and other related fields. The courses offered by the academy have endorsements and affiliations from national and international organizations and universities. Bird Academy has an impressive pan India presence with 31 centers and an overseas presence in UK, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Recently, Bird Academy had also partnered with the Sikkim Bio-Diversity Conservation and Forest Management Project, Department of Forests and Environment, Government of Sikkim to impart training and skills to its team members at the official Interpretation Centers (IC) in Sikkim, in the field of customer service, administrative duties, grooming and etiquette, communication and customer service.
