SAMBALPUR: In an effort to create a pool of professional tourist facilitators, the Odisha State Open University (OSOU) has rolled out two courses in tourism studies from this academic session. The two courses are six-month Certificate in Tourism Management (CTM) and one-year Diploma in Tourism Studies (DTS). The university will also start another certificate course in Special Tourism Services soon.
Currently, admission to both the courses is underway and will continue till October 31. While the certificate programme is available across 12 study centres, the diploma is being offered across 11 centres at Balasore, Cuttack, Berhampur, Bhawanipatna, Bhubaneswar, Jeypore, Puri, Rourkela and Sambalpur.
Official sources said so far in the diploma course, 46 applicants have registered and only five have completed their admission. Similarly in the certificate course, only eight of the 65 registered applicants have completed admission.
OSOU Vice-Chancellor AK Das Mohapatra said there are many pockets in the State which have tourism potential. But in absence of qualified professionals in the field of tourism, these areas have remained unexplored. “With these new courses, those interested will get to learn specialised skills required for development of tourism. They can apply these tourism skills anywhere in the world.”
Mohapatra further said many are still unaware about the opportunities in tourism sector. These courses will soon have great demand in the market and generate employment. “We are seeking opinions from experts on ways to reach out to more number of people. We are also in talks with a few players in the hospitality industry who can provide training to those taking up the course so that they can learn the practical usage of skills,” he added.
Course coordinator of Tourism Studies Rajesh Mohanty said, “The dimension of tourism has evolved over the years. Earlier, it was limited to religious and historical tourism. Now, it has expanded to new areas like medical tourism, eco-tourism and ethnic tourism. The sector will witness a boom in near future and anyone taking up the course can acquire additional skills in tourism management which they can use to make a career in the field later.”