Amity Institute of Travel & Tourism organized a six day Professional Skill Development course on “Travel writing, Blogging and Social Media Engagement”. During the virtual program, more than 1000 participants from 83 universities from around the country and abroad participated in this program.
Mr. SanJeet ,Founder and Managing Director DDP Group sharing his experiences and said, “travel writing or blogging is a necessity like other needs because people want to visit new places, want to know about other cultures and civilizations, travel writing creates dreams, hopes, and aspirations. Travel journalism is a responsible job, if you want to do travel writing just because you like to travel, then you cannot do travel writing, you have to understand your responsibility. Your experience should be a part of your writing because people always want to know the facts which are different and new. Travel journalism, travel blogging, and travel experience on social media are all three main parts of travel writing”. He also said we should understand the readers, check the facts before writing and never write on any sensitive subject by getting emotionally attached. Virtual tourism has developed a new concept so stay connected with technology and thus travel writing has become easier to share, averred Mr Sanjeet .
Ms. Sushila Nair, International Independent food and Travel Writer and Photographer describing the challenges of travel writing said that a travel writer should have a love for travel, a passion for adventure, and an eagerness to learn new cultures. You must meet people while exploring new places, keep an eye on the details, and have travel writing and photography apps in your mobile. Ms. Nair also stated research is necessary before traveling, get information from official tourist websites, tourism boards, tourism fairs, or exhibitions. Along with this, it is necessary to have information about the place of stay, hotels, shops, mode of travel. She said that in travel writing; write a description of the architecture, facilities, food, and eco-friendly features of resorts, hotels, restaurants, on the basis of your experience. She also informed that if you are writing for a magazine, then it is necessary to be aware of their guidelines, etc. Write in simple words, avoid long sentences, write, rewrite, and brighten up the words. Present your writing with interesting facts. Don't make your article a checklist and check the facts again. You can send your travel articles to the tourism section of newspapers, guide books, magazines or magazines of special interest, share them on your social media or share digital media like blogs, travel portals, etc. She gave detailed information about the challenges of travel writing, bad weather, getting information, competition, etc.
Prof. (Dr.) Balvinder Shukla Vice Chancellor, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh said Covid has affected all industries as well as tourism and guest service but on the other hand, it has opened doors of new opportunities. She stated that this six-day program will be helpful in the skill development of the students. When people were not traveling during the pandemic, people got information about the cultures, living habits, food habits of the countries through virtual tours. Travel blogging is the best medium to get experience which provides a chance to know the geographical, social, historical, philosophy, etc. of any place. The future of the tourism and hospitality sector is bright so students should work hard on their subject.
Dr. Manohar Sajnani, Dean, Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism, Amity University, said that in this vocational skill development program which will run from June 11 to 16, information will be provided by various experts on the subject, and will be beneficial for the students making a career in the field of journalism.
During the six-day program, Mr. Inder Raj Ahluwalia, Travel/Aviation Writer, Author & Consultant will share information on Exploring destination articles; Dr. Alka Maheshwari will share information on Cross-Cultural Diversity in Travel Writing; Mr. Anil Mathur, Senior Travel Writer will share information on Sense of place, people, facts, opinion in writing articles; Dr Parikshit Sharma Writer will share information on Travel memoir and essay; Mr. Sachin Manoccha will share information on Interviewing Personalities and amongst others.