Tourism corp gears up for competition

PATNA: Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) will soon hire senior manager-level professionals on contract basis as part of its preparations to excel in the competitive tourism market. The corporation has also made an initiative to give modern look to its hotels and introduce new luxury buses and taxis to attract tourists. The vacancies against contracts will be advertised nationally and the professionals would be shortlisted on the basis of their specialisation in finance, strategic planning, business operations, sales and marketing and HRD. They will have to have an experience of five to ten years in the field. "As of now, barring one or two, there are no professionals in the tourism sector. With this existing lot, we cannot compete in the market which has become more challenging and competitive,"BSTDC chairman -cum- managing director Manoj K Srivastava told TOI. He said if the corporation has to grow and flourish, its employees will have to change their working style and attitude. To change the face of BSTDC-run hotels, the corporation is in the process of categorising them in terms of facilities, location and tourism flow. Some of the selected hotels would be upgraded into two and three-star category. Facilities like children's playground, spa, playroom, baby-sitting services, credit card acceptance and pick-up-drop service would be added to the current facilities. The corporation will also have more luxury buses and a larger fleet of cars for the tourists. It has presently six buses and 14 light vehicles, most of which are not in a good shape. The process has begun to buy hi-tech luxury buses and new cars to ply on various routes. The corporation has also decided to introduce daily bus service in the city for the general public.

Also, the ticket booking, refund and cancellation processes would be computerised soon, said an official. Online booking service of seats of choice is also likely to be introduced shortly. To facilitate "trouble-free"journey in the BSTDC buses, a specially- designed satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) would soon be introduced in the BSTDC vehicles. A few years back, BSTDC had decided to introduce GPS in its Patna-Ranchi bus but the move remained on paper. The system helps locate the status of the vehicle on the route. "The BSTDC officials in Patna will thus remain updated about cases of theft, breakdown or accidents, if any,"the official said, adding the BSTDC's drivers will also be equipped with mobile phones. The corporation plans to utilise its abandoned eight acres of land near the aerial ropeway at Rajgir by setting up an amusement park there. Further, it would develop its own transport repair workshop on the BSTDC land at Transport Nagar in Patna.