We had selected 24 motivated volunteers from the 5 villages and the Gompa inside HDSR to be the recipients of the 8-inch telescopes and lead efforts in night sky shows for astro-tourists. These are our "Astro-Ambassadors". They went through an intensive 1-week long training workshop during October 2022 where they learn to operate the telescope, basics of astronomy, stars and constellations of the night sky etc. We have followed this up with a refresher course, and will continue with such efforts in the future as well.
IIA and the University of Ladakh are offering a semester-long course on "Astronomy and Astro-Tourism" for the first time in India starting July 2023. This course will include lectures on basic astronomy needs for astro-tourism guides, the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve project, basics of tourism, astro-tourism itself, and practical sessions to identify stars and constellations and using small telescopes.
The students are expected to gain skills in incorporating astro-tourism in their work in the tourism industry. As astro-tourism grows across India, this course is envisaged to become the standard course for all such aspirants in the country.