Kolkata: In line with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s vision of making Bengal a tourism-related investment destination, the state government is seeking to appoint an agency to manage the publicity and promotional campaign of state tourism at the Tourist Information Centers (TICs) located at the international and domestic lounges of Netaji Subhash Chandra International Airport, Kolkata.
According to a Tourism department official, a request for proposal has been issued to appoint an agency for providing facility management services which involves managing manpower to deliver high-quality tourism information services. It was learnt that the primary objective of such a decision is to enhance the state’s appeal to international and domestic tourists through effective information dissemination at TICs and ensure high-quality service by deploying qualified personnel for providing multilingual assistance (English, Bengali, Hindi) to tourists.
Further, the Tourism department wants that such TICs are also able to assist the department in international promotional events as part of its global outreach campaign. The scope of work would involve, but not limited to, providing information on Bengal’s tourist destinations, including WBTDCL properties and homestays, assist tourists in planning itineraries and accessing transport facilities, perform protocol duties for government guests in coordination with the Tourism department etc.
In total, nine personnel will be deployed across eight TICs. This will include eight information officers. Four will be stationed at the domestic lounge (two each for 6 am-2 pm and 2 pm-10 pm shifts). Another four will be deployed at the international lounge (two each for 2 pm–10 pm and 10 pm–6 am shifts). One facility maintenance attendant will be there for both lounges (10 am–6 pm).
The agency will have to give proper training to these personnels. The information officers need to have a Bachelor’s in Travel and Tourism Management or can be a graduate with at least one year of experience in travel/information desks/marketing. The personnel at the TICs would be responsible for displaying promotional materials attractively and liaise with Airports Authority of India and other statutory bodies.
Recently, following the Chief Minister’s appeal to the representatives of British Airways to start a direct Kolkata-London flight, the state government has appealed to European air carriers to start direct flights to Kolkata. It was assured that there were enough passengers from here who would travel to destinations such as London, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.