Published on : Friday, September 28, 2018
For example, a visitor to a new place, whether on a business trip, a pilgrimage, a wedding or just as a tourist – gets the first impression of a place from the taxi or auto-rickshaw driver whom he or she encounters immediately upon arrival. A driver who does not speak a language that the visitor speaks or understands, a driver who charges exorbitantly high rates from a stranger, a driver who does not keep his taxi clean and wears dirty clothes, and a driver who is not helpful to a stranger in a new city will do two disservice to the tourism potential of a place; one, he will give an impression to the stranger that this is not a tourist-friendly place; and two, people in this place are all out to cheat and fleece strangers.
Unfortunately, Guwahati, the gateway to the Northeast, which is also being promoted as India’s gateway to South-east Asia and vice-versa, is not a very tourist-friendly city.
A sizeable section of taxi-drivers in the LGBI Airport look more like roadside goons. Most of the taxis are dirty and stinks of cigarette smoke. The taxi-drivers do not know the basics courtesies like wishing the visitor, addressing him or her as Sir or Madam, and do not know where to find the kind of hotel the visitor is looking for.
On many occasions, take the visitors to the wrong places. This is the age of digital and social media. A stranger or a visitor landing in a problem because of the first person he or she comes in contact with immediately upon arriving in Guwahati for the first time, will surely sent out messages through the social media about his or her bad experiences.
How does one address these issues? When will the Assam government tourism team members, who recently in the US to promote the state as a tourist hotspot, ever consider this vital aspect of the industry?
Tags: Assam Tourism