With a massive turnout of members from all parts of India, the 9th Convention cum Exhibition of the Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI) took place at The Hyatt Regency Ahmedabad from August 16 – 17, 2019. Insightful speeches by an August panel of dignitaries during the inauguration set the mood for the Convention right and the sessions ahead were also equally uplifting. Though there always remain few things that could have been done better, the Convention on the whole provided the much-needed thrust for domestic tourism in India.
Priyanka Saxena Ray
The inauguration of the 9th ADTOI Convention kick-started with the much-awaited launch of the new logo of ADTOI, which is more nationalistic in its outlook and has been floated with the sole aim of making the association more India centric in not just its ideologies but also look and feel.
Chetan Gupta, General Secretary, ADTOI, gave opening remarks and talked about all that Gujarat has to offer in terms of Tourism potential and how people of the state are not just business minded but also extremely hospitable and welcoming. Following him, P.P. Khanna, President, ADTOI, welcomed delegates to the first heritage city of India. “Gujarat is in the top 10 states in India to get good number of domestic tourists. Safety, security, cleanliness and connectivity are the four main pillars required to boost tourism of any place – which are all present in Gujarat,” he said. Furthermore, he suggested the dignitaries present to boost connectivity to Gujarat and requested for more MICE and weddings venue along with the subtle demand of scrapping the GST, which falls heavy on the pockets of people doing business. He laid strong emphasis to encouraging people to spend money – on travel, weddings etc. within their own country and not go abroad. He also quoted how the honourable PM during his latest speech asked people to see at least 15 destinations in India by 2022.
Up next, Shri S.J. Haider, Principal Secretary, Gujarat Tourism, talked about the iconic monuments dedicated to the state – Statue of Unity and Gandhi Kutir Museum at Dandi. “There is immense potential in the field of tourism. Gujarat has given many things to the country – from PM to world class monuments. There are lot of socio-economic activities taking place so our purpose is not just to boost tourism but also strengthen the economy of the state,” he said.
Mrs. Ashima Mehrotra, Director, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India talked about the importance of tourism in providing employment and boosting economy and elucidated on the numerous schemes that the Ministry of Tourism is undertaking to boost holistic development in lesser known places. “MoT had suggested few routes to the Ministry of Civil Aviation that can help boost domestic tourist. Out of these, 8 routes have already become operational. I am also delighted to share that the MoT has revamped its website and has become more interactive and user friendly,” she shared.
Mr. Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India, talking about the 5 S of tourism said, “Tourism has always been growing and will continue to do so – our job is to facilitate the growth of this stream. This is the field that has multiplier impact – on economy and in the private sector. We have to encourage people to travel and explore places close by. This form of inter-regional and intra-regional travel, if boosted correctly, can have a major impact on the growth of domestic tourism. We need to identify new tourism destinations and work hard on developing infrastructure in form of sanitation, proper signage services etc. PM has laid strong emphasis on boosting domestic tourism by urging people to see at least 5 new destinations every year and we at Air India are preparing special family packages which will help people make the best deal.”
Shri Vasanbhai Ahir, hon’ble Minister of State (Gujarat), Tourism talked and enumerated on the various offerings of Gujarat while elucidating how boosting tourism will in turn boost employment and economy. “In the last few years, many small villages of Gujarat have prospered immensely because of growth of tourism in the state. You can roam for a month in Gujarat and see new places, without repetition, such is the potential of its tourism offerings,” he elucidated. Close behind, Shri Pradipsinh Jadeja, hon’ble Minister of State – Home (Gujarat), welcomed delegates to the land of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and hon’ble PM Mr. Modi. He went on and talked about the development of water front along river Sabarmati, which was also the brainchild of the hon’ble PM. He further enumerate on the various touristy offerings that the region has to offer and explained how the PM, when he was the CM of Gujarat, would only worry about development in the state and found ways and means to boost the same.
The second day of the convention started with a presentation on what the ministry of tourism is doing to strengthen domestic tourism in India. Organising ‘partyatan parv’ to asking people to see their own country first rather than travelling abroad on every holiday, developing iconic sites, bringing in world class visitor experience, adopt a heritage scheme, etc. have been some of the initiatives that the MoT is taking to boost tourism in the country.
Up next, the representative from the headquarters of the national carrier, Air India presentation highlighted about their domestic network that serves 80 destinations in India with 446 Domestic departures a day in addition to 62 international departures a day. The airline takes pride in offering 25kg baggage allowance in economy on Air India on domestic sectors. They offer the most advantageous group packages with very good discounts.
The most invigorating session of the day was on ‘How can states enhance domestic tourism through PPP Model’. Vinod Zutshi, Former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism moderated the session by opening the discussion with the PM’s vision requesting people to see 15 destinations by 2022. He agreed that there are gaps in the tourism development of the country in the form of infrastructure, which can be addressed successfully through the PPP model. Shri Venu Devan, MD and Commissioner of Tourism, Gujarat detailed how the state of Gujarat has many examples of collaboration with the private sector. Himmat Anand, MD, Tree of Life Hotels and Resorts, gave the delegates a reality check when he talked about how a PPP model should be attractive and feasible for the private stakeholder in order to attract him to invest his money in the venture, which he might not own. He also said that in India there exists a huge gap between what the country has and what it actually offers in terms of tourism. Mr. Yuvraj Padole, Deputy Director, MP Tourism, who was representing one of the few Indian states that has successfully implemented the PPP model, explained that the first step in the cycle for them was to develop infrastructure, have a land bank ready and focus on developing all sectors of tourism in the state. “We are planning to invite travel agents, tour operators and domestic operators to explore the sites and facilities that we have created and are looking at their small investments, which will also ensure that they will promote the destination,” he said.
This interesting session was followed by presentations by Hyatt Regency and M P Tourism, wherein both of them elucidated on their strengths and plans that they have for future. “We are working very strictly on responsible tourism. Started the drive to become a no-plastic state. Focus on 365 days tourism in MP. Panchmarhi Monsoon Marathon, adventure, heritage, film tourism and plenty of investment options are all being developed in our endeavour to boost tourism. We are also promoting the lesser known destinations through heritage trail,” said Yuvraj Padole, Deputy Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism.
Power of Networking was another great session wherein the ADTOI Members, mostly chapter chairmen, discussed how working together can assure collective growth of domestic tourism. This session was moderated by Ashish Gupta, CEO, FAITH. Mr. Bimal Mehta, Chapter Chairman, Gujarat, Mr. Arjit Purkayastha, Chapter Chairman, North East, Mr. Debjit Dutta, Chapter Chairman, West Bengal, all collectively stressed that the tour operators are not selling the destination adequately. Chetan Gupta, General Secretary, ADTOI, went ahead and invited all chapter chairmen to join in in the discussion and share their views on the ways through which they can take domestic tourism forward. ADTOI has 10 chapter chairmen as of now. Members in these chapters are growing, which means the ADTOI umbrella is also growing. OTAs, GST, Product Knowledge, reduction in domestic air ticket rate, scarce HR, skill development programs are some of the issues that the members of the association have to collectively address.
The convention concluded on a high note and while it was a grand show put together with great efforts of the ADTOI team and especially the two main pillars – Mr. P P Khanna and Mr. Chetan Gupta; there were few things that could have been better. The quality of entertainment, for example, was not up to the mark; the exhibition area too was mostly left unattended and the sessions were all running behind schedule – people asked to hurry their presentations, all because the day 2 of the convention started 1.5 hours later than scheduled. But as they say, we all get better as we go along and ADTOI Conventions have come a long way and today stand proudly in the category of well hosted well attended events of the travel trade.
