When you work in the Travel and Tourism industry, you come in contact with a lot of like-minded individuals and companies. When you bring those people together, you can create a lot of mutual benefits, learning and connections under an umbrella called “Association”. The Travel Trade in India is buzzing with such “Associations” who are collectively working for the upliftment of its members and betterment of the trade fraternity. As 2020 dawns on us, here’s a BOTT Exclusive report on what the Presidents of some of these associations have in mind for the year ahead.
Priyanka Saxena Ray and Arushi Bajaj
Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI
Having recently taken over the reins as President TAAI, there is much that I wish to achieve or atleast start working towards in the year ahead. We will focus on communicating more with the Government as well as our Service Providers while also holding more Knowledge Conclaves. I also wish to create a Technology Platform for my members, so that their business can grow and they don’t feel left behind in this race for numbers. In 2020, TAAI also aims to increase its interaction with the electronic travel and digital national and travel media. Through educational seminars and qualitative interactions we will provide clarification on taxes for our members and also ensure ease of doing businesses for them.
Subhash Goyal, Founder Member and Hony. Secretary, FAITH
While 2019 has not really been a great year for Tourism in India, we are hopeful that the coming year – 2020 will be a fruitful year for the Inbound Tourism. India today is no longer a developing country but almost at par with any country of the west with its hotels, road and air connectivity and infrastructure. Government is also supplementing the efforts of the private sector in boosting tourism across all sectors. Visa on Arrival fees has been introduced while extending the length of stay and GST has been brought down to make staying in luxury hotels affordable. All these factors together with our touristy offerings makes India a highly lucrative tourist destination.
Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI
While I have been associated with OTOAI since inception, I feel humbled to be elected as the President of the same. My major focus in my new role would be to increase the member base of the association to take it to 1000-1500 without diluting the norms and ethics for which OTOAI stands. The new team at OTOAI is also all geared to develop strong relationship with the Ministries, Embassies and various Tourism Boards. Lastly, keeping the success of some of the educational seminars conducted by the team in the past in mind, in 2020, we will definitely hold more educational product seminars to increase the knowledge quotient of our members.
Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO
It came to IATO’s notice that facility of Airport Entry Passes for the Tour operators is being withdrawn from January 1, 2020 and passes will be issued for the interim period till December 31, 2019. IATO has taken up the matter with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Secretary Civil Aviation and Director General Bureau of Civil Aviation security mentioning that airport entry passes are must for the tour operators to receive the foreign guests at the airport and also to ensure their safety and security. The latest news is that the validity of passes as it is basis has been extended till January 31 and new guidelines to be announced to follow by all airport pass seekers.
In addition, IATO will also look at Air charter policy. We need to ease our Guidelines for Air Charter Policy for operations of Charter Flights to make it more user friendly to attract bulk tourists from abroad. In 2020, IATO will focus on more aggressive marketing proposals to be made for the Industry for attracting more foreign tourists to India. We will also encourage Skill Development Programs to help increase trained man power for the Industry and IATO shall be actively involved with Skill Council of India. IATO will also organise skill training program under the banner of Skill Council for certifications.
In the coming year, the new IATO website will be in place for the benefit of our members, which will also help in generating new business opportunities. Lastly, IATO Elections are to be held in the month of April 2020 and a new team is expected to take over to set the new vision for 2020.
P. P. Khanna, President, ADTOI
Domestic Tourism is an important segment of the travel trade and after PM’s emphasis and appeal to the people of the country to see more of India in the coming years, the industry has received major boost. As Association for Domestic Tourism, our focus is to further strengthen this branch of tourism and make our members aware regarding the importance and potential of Domestic Tourism, We successfully opened 2 new state chapters last year and thus year too, we will focus on opening 2-3 more state chapters of the association across India. Our annual Convention is scheduled to take place in April 2020 in Bhopal, MP and we are focussed on addressing some worthy topics through the same.
Amaresh Tiwari, Vice Chairman, ICPB
Having been a part of the MICE Industry in India for over two decades now, and part of ICPB for a decade, I can safely say that India is on a positive trajectory as far as MICE growth in the country in concerned. As Vice Chairman, ICPB, what I see is an ocean of possibilities and opportunities, which when handled right can benefit not just our country but also us – the MICE handlers immensely. My focus at the helm of ICPB would be to work towards making India an important MICE destination and try to get a meaty share of the Global Events and Meetings Industry for all of us. I would like to promote – on national as well as international level, the numerous venues that our country is home to for hosting events and meetings of large scale. I am positive that this year will see India climb the chart of global MICE destinations further.
Capt. Swadesh Kumar, President, ATOAI
The year 2020 will be an exciting year for adventure tourism field. We hope the business will grow on a faster pace, than what have been in 2019. Government of India is keen to push this particular segment of the industry and our Association is extending its full support in the endeavour. We are having our own Convention in Dharamsala in March, which will be a big event for the adventure tourism industry. Going forward, we wish to expand our membership strength from 500 to 2000 as we are trying to bring as many people as possible within our fold so that we can bring more professionalism in the industry and establish safety guidelines in this specialised segment of the industry. I would also to mention here that the North-East part of the country is a focus area where we are giving special consideration as we feel that this is the future destination for adventure tourism. Government of India, with full support from our Association, is making plenty of efforts to promote this destination. We are also going to focus on collaborating among members to increase our business.
