Sunday, November 11, 2007

What makes a city great?

There is a lot of debate on what makes a city or a country great from the point of view of a visitor or tourist. Is it the infrastructure? The convenient transport system? The entertainment facilities? The historical sites?
One can list out numerous options which ARE definitely important but the single most important factor is the people...the people who live there...the people who man various facilities...the people who are in the business of hospitality and tourism and numerous allied areas.
The people matter. There never was a greater need to sensitise and train the people right from the porter at the airport or railway station to taxi driver, rickshaw puller, waiter, and whole lot of people everywhere. It is the people who can make the difference to a tourist through a concerted training modules for every stakeholder.
Tourists or visitors do not take home only the images of the buildings, bridges, rivers and mountains...they take home memories of their interaction with the people they meet during the course of their visit. CJ

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