Durga Puja tourists welcomed at Kolkata airport with 'Respect Women' messages

In a bid to make women travellers feel at ease, tourists landing at the Kolkata airport during the Durga Puja festival are being welcomed with the message of 'Respect Women'. Airline officials, hotels and others in the tourism industry have started distributing thousands of badges bearing the message on the occasion of World Tourism Day, beginning today. "We feel that this is a good message to send out on World Tourism Day, to show our commitment to respect women. We are distributing these badges at the airport to the passengers arriving in Kolkata," Anil Punjabi, chairman (east) of the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), said.

They have requested airline officials at the airport to wear and distribute these badges till the end of Durga Puja festival which culminates with Dusshera. "We want to show that our city is safe for women as we wish to increase the number of visitors to Kolkata," Punjabi said. A number of airlines like Jet Airways, Spice Jet, Air Asia, Qatar Airways, Bhutan Airlines, Emirates, besides the Taj Bengal hotel has participated in the initiative. More than 100 travel agencies along with esteemed travellers and frequent flyers have volunteered their support to the initiative. Punjabi said TAFI also plans to start self-defense classes like karate and judo for women.