Eulalia D’Souza, proprietor of Lia Travels, Mangaluru and Allen C A Pereira, former CMD of the Bank of Maharashtra were among those who shared their perspectives on the subject.
Addressing the gathering, Eulalia D’Souza said that the workshop should help them take a step forward to change their attitude towards the tourism industry. “The tourism industry has an impact on a city, its economy, cultural exchange and its exposure to the outside world. This helps a city grow”, she said, adding that tourism needs to be seen as an industry in itself. She urged the students to change their views and opinions about tourism and look at it as a friendly, challenging and interesting industry. “It is a revenue and employment generating industry”, she concluded.
Dr. Joseph Gonsalvis, Principal of SJEC said, “The world is growing smaller because of the tourism industry. People are travelling more often now. The tourism industry began many years ago with pilgrimages where people used to travel to temples to offer prayers. Now, there are many different forms of tourism like medical tourism, entertainment tourism, enterprise tourism and the like.”
Speaking about the impact of the tourism industry on the other industries, he said that tourism had helped many other industries like hospitality, travel and others prosper.
Rev. Fr. Wilfred Prakash D’Souza, Director of SJEC said, “Tourism has become an important sector in a country as it has a big impact on its economy. The main characteristics of tourism are the revenue and employment generation. For many regions and countries, tourism is a major source of income for the country and is important for the welfare of its citizens.” Speaking about the impact of tourism on an individual, he said that as a traveler himself, he could attest to how travel and tourism could open one’s eyes to the culture and qualities of other countries and regions.
Dr. Prakash Pinto welcomed the gathering and Dr. Anjali Ganesh proposed a vote of thanks.
