VIJAYAWADA: A three-day training programme called ‘Andhra Pradesh Tourism Destination Specialist’, for visually challenged students, organised by Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA), concluded in Vijayawada on Friday.
Six students of LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) — Prashanti Arepalli, Vankayala Phanikumar, G N Anusha, Sukhavasi Rushmanth, Gunnam Pavankumar Reddy and Penneti Likhita — four of whom were selected by capacity building trainers and two nominated by LVPEI, were trained by experts. These students are trained in information technology and the use of software such as NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) and Job Access With Speech (JAWS) which they use for studying and also for their day-to-day activities.
On the first day, Dr Sambasiv Rao, Director Administration, APTA, familiarised the students with the soft skills required for communicating with customers. At this stage, they were taught how to manage their time and to fulfil their basic needs.
“If we guide them in the field of time management, they can manage their households along with work. Keeping this in mind, we gave them some suggestions,” said Rao. The students were also introduced with hotel management skills, specifically the ones required for back-end jobs.
They were taught how to solve tourists’ queries over phone calls and how to manage customers on desk. “We were also introduced to some of the leading travel websites and told how they functioned,” said Sukhavasi Rushmanth. Day-two was mentored by J Ahemad Nisar, Assistant Director, Cuisine (hotel management skills) and Sai Phanindra, Manager, Tourism (travel agency management).
On the third and final day of the workshop, students took part in an interactive session with Lajwanti Naidu, Assistant Director, Capacity Building, on world geography, tourist destinations in the State, festivals that can be a theme for conducting tourist activities and also a comparative analysis of tourism sector of other states. Naidu conducted mock drills, wherein she tested the students on how they would speak to customers from various backgrounds. Each student replied to her as they would reply if they were employees of either a hotel or a travel company.
“I have done my graduation in tourism but after that I had no scope to get further knowledge in the filed as I am partially blind. So, I entered the IT field. I think this course was very helpful for students like me as they could hone their skills in the field despite having barriers,” said G N Anusha.