Shyam Sood
Rajouri, Oct 30: One day national workshop on Community based tourism (CBT) was held at BGSBU which was organised by Centre for Hospitality & Tourism in collaboration with WWF-India.
“CBT not only gives you a real insight into local lives, but also ensures your travel experience makes a genuine difference to local people,” said Prof. Akbar Masood, Vice-Chancellor (VC) BGSBU.
“CBT experiences vary greatly depending on the places you visit and needs of the local people, meaning every experience is unique” VC said and added there is great potential for developing CBT in Pir Panjal Region.
“Being a responsible Institution of higher education, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) is committed to play a pivotal role in shaping the socio-economic landscape of the region and CBT is one such area where the university will be coordinating with Government and NGOs in various capacity building initiatives” said Prof. Akbar Masood.
Prof. Iqbal Parwez Dean Academic Affairs applauded the efforts of the Centre for Hospitality and Tourism for taking a lead in organising the first-ever offline event after the University has resumed for offline classes.
Saleem Beg, former DG Tourism J&K delivered the keynote address and highlighted various important facets of CBT, and focused on a long-term sustainable approach to develop strategies for the promotion of CBT in Pir Panjal region of Jammu and Kashmir.
The other experts who deliberated on various themes included Suhana Ahmed, Anil Sharma, Vaihbav SharmaMani Mahesh, and Dr. Rayaz Qureshi, Dr. Ankit Sood, Dr. Priyadarshini Shreshtha, Dr. Kafeel Ahmed, Dr. Jatinder Kumar, and Suheel Mir.
Dr. Danish Iqbal delivered the welcome address, Rohit Rattan from WWF-India briefed the audience about the background of the workshop, and Dr. Parvez Abdulla, Organising Secretary of the workshop presented the vote of thanks.
Dr. Mamta Bhat conducted the proceedings of the workshop. Those who were present on the occasion included Dean Education Prof. GM Malik, Heads of Various departments, officials/officers of BGSBU, research scholars and students from BGSBU, colleges, and from other universities of J&K.
