Cab aggregator Ola has tied up with Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) to promote tourism in Mumbai through ‘Mumbai Darshan’ according to a report in the Hindu.
Starting Thursday, Ola customers can choose the Mumbai Darshan option on the Ola app and choose a 10-hour or 100-km package comprising a guided tour of places across Mumbai.
As part of this initiative, there will be trained drivers with the skills required to guide tourists and explain the city’s landmarks around the city while expanding the culture as well. These cabs will have tourism brochures as well for tourists to read and understand. Moreover, drivers will be trained through classroom, flied training and will be provided with material on the app.
This partnership will not only boost employment for Ola drivers but also for 100 guides that have been sanctioned in Mumbai and 400 across Maharashtra. The partnership also includes tie-ups with places of interest to provide access to restaurants, selfie-points and tour guides.
Speaking at the event, Principal Secretary of Tourism and Culture, Maharashtra government, Valsa Nair Singh, said, “We are confident that this MoU will actively take ahead Maharashtra government’s vision of transforming the State into a smart tourism hub. Tourists visiting Maharashtra will be able to avail themselves of the benefits of the latest technology and best in class service to visit some of the most prominent tourism destinations in the State.”
Pranay Jivrajka, founding partner of Ola told The Economic Times that the idea is to emulate this partnership with other states as well. “The format in which the partnership manifests may be different. There are states that are keen to have inter-city properties and we are looking at all of it,” he added.
According to ET, Ola has flagged off its first batch of 500 drivers as a part of this partnership. These are the same 100 and 400 tour guides from Mumbai and Maharashtra respectively that will double up as tour guides.
This comes at a time when its rival Uber has been inking partnerships with states like Telangana and Kartnataka to provide last mile connectivity in terms by tying up with the Metro Rail departments of the states in Hyderabad and Karnataka.