Amid the COVID-19 pandemic; Chandigarh University students and faculty welcomed tourists at Chandigarh International Airport on the eve of World Tourism Day

Continuing its tradition to celebrate World Tourism Day which falls on September 27th, faculty and students of University Institute of Tourism & Hospitality Management (UITHM), Chandigarh University Gharuan reached at Chandigarh International Airport to welcome the tourists and flyers by presenting them flower buds.

Taking proper care of the protocols due to COVID-19, more than ten students of the Travel & Tourism program of UITHM-Chandigarh University led by Prof Balwinder Kaur and Prof Harjot Kaur participated in the hospitality drive at Chandigarh International Airport on the eve of World Tourism Day.

This year, World Tourism Day is being celebrated worldwide on the theme of "Tourism and Rural Development" with the motive to create awareness about the unique role that tourism plays in providing opportunities outside of big cities and preserving cultural and natural heritage all around the world.

On the eve of World Tourism Day, UITHM also orgzed various virtual competitions which included Travel Writing, Photography, Rangoli Making, Face Painting, Best out of Waste, and Paper Presentation in which more than 800 students of Hotel Management, Travel & Tourism Management, Airlines & Airport Management took part.

"The significant contribution of the Tourism and Hospitality Sector towards country's economy can be ascertained from the fact that currently, the tourism sector contributes 9.2 per cent to India's GDP and as of 2019, 4.2 crore direct or indirect jobs were created in the tourism sector in India which was 8.1 per cent of the total employment in the country," said Prof Shaiwali Yadav, a faculty of tourism at UITHM, Chandigarh University while presenting a paper on the contribution made by Tourism Industry in India's Economy.

"COVID-19 has thrown the biggest challenge to the Global Tourism Sector and it has resulted in a drop of about 78 per cent in tourist traffic across the world and the industry needs to redefine, refocus on the strategies to revive the sector like focus on domestic tourists, the robust revival of religious tourism," said Prof Dhruvita said, another faculty of Tourism Department.

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( With inputs from ANI )