Hyderabad, March 14, 2024......FTCCI’s Tourism committee on Thursday trained GMR Hyd Airport’s cab drivers as brand ambassadors of the city to attract tourists.  About 200 drivers were trained in two sessions during the day under its initiative "Athithi Devobhava", branding Auto and Cab Drivers as ambassadors to give a positive impression about the city

The cab drivers at GMR Airport were trained in Etiquette, Hygiene, First Aid, CPR and the English language

Suresh Kumar Singhal, Senior Vice President highlighted the role and importance of drivers in our community more so in the tourism sector.  You are real ambassadors to attract tourists he said.

1. Ramchandram, Co-Chair of the Tourism Committee stressed the importance of the driver.  Countries like Singapore, many developed countries, and states like Kerala brand cab and auto drivers as Tourism Ambassadors. Many corporate executives after their retirement in Singapore get into driving and drive cabs.   In Japan, they throw a party only twice in life. Once when they are married and a second time when they get their driving license. Such is the importance given to driving. In developed countries, only millionaires have chauffeur-driven cars, he said

All the participants were trained in Etiquette and personal grooming by Mrs Meenakshi from IIHM International Institute of Hotel Management).

Srinivas Reddy of GMR spoke about the real meaning of "Athithi Devobhava, 'Customer is God'

The cab drivers taught a few mannerisms- Good Morning, Welcome, Thank You, Please, May I Help You etc. 

The FTCCI Tourism Committee is also bringing out an audiobook that teaches cab and auto drivers a few basic sentences in Hindi, English and Telugu so that they can have seamless communication with the passengers.

The Emergency Specialists from Apollo Hospitals taught CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation),  an emergency procedure) to ensure good blood flow to the brain and other parts. 

Later the drivers were asked to practice the CPR skills they learnt.

In the end, each of the participants was given away a First Aid Kit by Apollo Hospitals and good memorabilia for them to carry back home.

“Atithi Devo Bhava” meaning “Guest is God” is a novel campaign to brand auto rickshaw/ cab drivers as tourism ambassadors. The first contact tourists make on arrival into any city is auto or cab drivers.  Their behaviour will make or mar the image of the place.

The Tourism Committee's initiative is to make these drivers realise their importance and teach them basic Etiquette, English, First Aid, and CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation – is an emergency lifesaving procedure performed when the heart stops beating)

Auto drivers and tourist cab drivers are the real faces of any city, place, state or nation, said Meela Jayadev, President of FTCCI.

Auto and cab drivers are the ambassadors as tourists depend on them. Their sound knowledge of the city, its topography, good behaviour, charging a fair fare, welcoming nature of the guest, etiquette etc make a huge difference in making a good and positive impression on the guest about a destination.  Besides places of tourism importance, these people can be very good advisors and influencers.  They can additionally share information about the historic importance, for instance, they can highlight the importance of Charminar, Mecca Masajid, Salarjung Museum, Golconda Fort, Birla Mandir, Hussain Sagar Lake, Buddha Statue, Cable Bridge, Statue of Equality, T-Hub, Hyderabadi Biryani, Irani Chai, Pearls, Samosa, Osamina Biscuits, Bangles and others, added Mr. Meela Jayadev.

The campaign was rolled out at five places on Wednesday shared by Rakhi Kankaria, Chairperson, Tourism Committee.  Three places in the morning--Kachiguda Railway Station, Nampally Railway Station, Imliban Bus Station, and two in the afternoon at Jubilee Bus Station and Secunderabad Railway Station where the campaign rolled out. About 200 people have participated. 

Taxi drivers play a vital role in the tourism sector, its branding and promotion added Mohan Lal, Co-chairman of the Committee

On Thursday it was held at GMR Auditorium at GMR Airport in three sessions --- at 10 am, 2 pm.  On Friday it will be repeated at Abhinandan Motors at Bowenpally, CMR Automobiles Erragadda.

The initiative was rolled with the active participation and support from Govt of Telangana, the Tourism Department, GMR Hyderabad, Apollo, Kothari Group, Society for Emergency Medicine India, IIHM, Tripura Constructions and Agromech.

Very soon, the Tourism Committee of FTCCI will bring out a QR code, which will be displayed at a prominent place in all autos and cabs in the city.  Upon scanning the QR code, the tourists will be able to access all tourism-related information.

The committee soon will come out with an audiobook, a self-learning tool, to enable them to learn English and a couple of other languages. It will be four different languages.