Training On Ecotourism

Training of JFMC, EDC, and PSS Members
Selected members of JFMCs, EDCs, and PSSs will receive a short training course on ecotourism. The villages selected for ecotourism development by the EMC will be the primary targets. The training will provide an overview of the business aspect of ecotourism including how the supply chain works, marketing, the impacts of developing ecotourism, advantages and disadvantages, and the pitfalls to avoid. An instructor will be appointed to prepare and deliver the course. The instructor will prepare the course and deliver it in the ten villages. This will be carried out in the village hall or another facility if there is none within the Panchayat premises. The course will be repeated once over the project period. 

Training of Local People and the Local Private Sector
Training will be imparted in the ten villages selected for ecotourism development by the EMC. The objective will be to assist local service providers in improving their products. NGOs (ex, ECOSS, Khedi Ecotourism, and the Ecodevelopment Promotion Society etc) will be contracted to deliver the training. Twenty local people will be expected to attend each training session. The courses will be repeated each year, either as refresher courses, to impart new material, or to teach new participants. 

The following training courses will be given:
  • Organizational development (community management, accounts, billing, rotation, etc)
  • Cooking for homestay providers
  • Housekeeping for homestay providers
  • Guiding
  • Cultural performances
  • Spoken English

Ecotourism Exposure Tour
Community members will be taken on exposure trips to observe successful village tourism initiatives, where they will learn how they are operated. They will stay one night in a homestay and participate in all the activities available. Five service providers from each village will be selected by the JFMCs, EDCs, and PSSs to go on the trips.