Atithi Devo Bhavah

ATITHI DEVO BHAVAH
What is Atithi Devo Bhavah?

A pioneer initiative by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India that will help tap into the full potential of tourism in India. Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has introduced Atithi Devo Bhavah Program- A nation wide campaign that aims at sensitizing key stakeholders towards tourists, through a process of training and orientation. The endeavour is to boost tourism in India, which in turn would act as a catalyst for Indias economic growth. To launch a national level initiative that works at many levels to address all the above issues. Atithi Devo Bhavah aims at creating awareness about the effects of tourism and sensitizing people about preservation of our rich heritage & culture, cleanliness and warm hospitality. It also re-instills a sense of responsibility towards tourists and reinforces the confidence of foreign tourist towards India as a preferred holiday destination. The entire concept is designed to complement the Incredible India Campaign.
Why Atithi Devo Bhavah?

Last year we had 3.3 million visitors, but when you consider that Singapore gets 7 million a year. Thailand 9.6 million a year. Malaysia 11.5 million. There is no reason why we cant aim to increase our numbers by
100%. And that too would be just a beginning. However to do this we need to change our attitude towards those who visit us. Often tourists are mistreated, cheated and rudely dealt with. Its simple logic, if someone in a house is rude to you, as a guest, you dont encourage your friends and relations to go there. This is perhaps the reason why in spite of an incredible wealth of Tourist spots, Cultural Attractions, Natural Wonders and Destinations for the soul, India still isnt amongst the top 15 tourist destinations of the world. The time has definitely come to get together to change this. To change our attitude. Weve lost touch with the hospitality we were famous for. Now its a time that we make an effort to make it a part of us again.
Inspiration behind Atithi Devo Bhavah?

Respect has always been an integral part of the Indian soul. From time immemorial we have always respected - Our teachers, our elders, our parents And our guests Perhaps this is why a great Indian Emperor once observed 'In Hindustan our manner is very respectful and our hearts are always open' In many ways, at that time India was the ultimate destination for the enlightened travelers. Now, thousands of years later, we can bring that golden age back again. This inspired us to go back to those years, when Indian hospitality set the standard for the world And we found the keystone of what we want to do Or guest is blessed. Our visitor is God. That is how we arrive at our mission called 'Atithi Devo Bhavah'
The seven point Atithi Devo Bhavah Program Atithi Devo Bhavah is a 7 point program of hospitality and training
Samvedan Sheelta or SensitisationHere we will sensitise the various sections of the tourism industry about how each of them to contribute for the growth of the tourism industry and how they will benefit from it. Prashikshan or Training and Induction This involves explaining to them the needs and expectation of the tourist, how they should respond and behave in order to satisfy them needs and meet those expectations. Prerna or Motivation This is motivation to participate in this program through various measures e.g. awards for the best worker in the segment. Because when you are enthused you can do wonders. Pramani Karan or Certification Certification to ensure standards shall be done at an appropriate stage in the training program Pratipushti or Feedback Feedback shall be obtained from tourists about the Service they have received and the experience they had, in order to improve the training program on a continuous basis Samanya Bodh or General Awareness The mass media communication campaign will be undertaken to create general awareness among the public about the necessity and the benefits of the Atithi Devo Bhavah programme. Swamitwa or OwnershipThe Atithi Devo Bhavah programme is a movement we will urge all segments of the Indian society to adopt, and look upon as their own.
The Charter of Atithi Devo Bhavah Training Program

Hygiene & Cleanliness: Hygiene & Cleanliness shall cover the areas of product for e.g. vehicles like taxies, hotel rooms, restaurants, shops, etc., personal hygiene & cleanliness of the person providing the service and cleanliness of the monuments / places of tourist interest. Conduct and Behavior: The person concerned for e.g. the taxi driver / hotel employee shall behave in courteous and polite manner towards tourists. Integrity and Honesty: The person providing service to the foreign tourists should display honesty and integrity. Safety and Security: The safety and security of the tourists shall be ensured.
COMPONENTS OF THE ATHITHI DEVO BHAVAH PROGRAM Training

In this we are going to train key stakeholders (of the tourism industry) in terms of changing their attitude and behaviour towards foreign tourists. The programme shall cover 4 areas: Hygiene - This include personal hygiene of the person and also that of the product / service. Conduct and behaviour - Politeness and basic courtesies in interacting with the foreign tourists. Integrity - This implies that the person does not cheat the tourists and charges him a fair price for the service. Safety and security - Person look after safety and security of the foreign tourists. Key stakeholders being covered in the training include taxi drivers, baggage handlers at airport, tourist guides, hotel staff, employees of tour operators, immigration and customs officials etc.. Since these segments have diverse backgrounds, education and levels of sophistication, the training is divided into 2 categories: Level 1 : Covers taxi drives, tourist guides and baggage handlers and porters. Level 2 : The tour operators, shop owners / staff, hotel staff, immigration and customs officials. This training program is initiated at the following places - Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Agra, Aurangabad, and Goa. From the next financial year this programme was rolled out to other important cities in India. These people are given certificates which shall be valid for about 6 months after which they have to come and get themselves re-trained. Till 31st March 2005, about 26,000 people were trained. From April 2005 to March 2006 these 26,000 people were retrained and another substantially large number of people were trained. Once a threshold level in terms of number of people trained was achieved (likely by October 2005), Atithi Devo Bhavah as a symbol of quality was introduced. Foreign tourists will be told to look out for the Atithi Devo Bhavah badge / sticker which will mean that the service is of certain minimum quality. PR Road Shows Besides training they are also undertaking PR Road shows with the tourism trade in order to get their active participation and ownership of the Atithi Devo Bhavah programme. The contact programmes had been first conducted in 7 cities mentioned
earlier. After April 2005 contact programmes were conducted in other cities in conjugation with the roll out of the training programme. Mass Media Communication Mass media communication in newspapers, TV, cinema and outdoors to create general awareness about the Atithi Devo Bhavah programme and to communicate to key stakeholders as to how it is in their own interest that foreign tourists be treated well and should go back happily from our country would be conducted.
Role of the India Tourism Offices

The India Tourism offices of Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Mumbai, Aurangabad, Goa and Hydrabad have a crucial role to play in the campaign. They act as nodal agencies to facilitate and coordinate the essential part of the program i.e. Training. The nodal offices as we term it will have the following roles: a) Provide their cooperation and support to make the training programs run in an effective manner b) Registering the stakeholders who are contacting them for the purpose of training and deciphering the information to us, so that they can be contacted and made a part of the training program c) Re-registration of the stakeholders who underwent a training program after six months, the stakeholders will approach them for the purpose of re-training and recertification

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ATITHI DEVO BHAVAH

What is Atithi Devo Bhavah?

Why Atithi Devo Bhavah?

Inspiration behind Atithi Devo Bhavah?

The Charter of Atithi Devo Bhavah Training Program

COMPONENTS OF THE ATHITHI DEVO BHAVAH PROGRAM Training

Role of the India Tourism Offices

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