Priyanka Saxena Ray
Addressing the virtual members and the chief speaker of the occasion, Mr. Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH, outlined how the industry should collectively strive forward towards not just a survival but a thrival plan as there is immense potential in the tourism sector.
Ms. Brar, in her insightful and exhaustive remarks mentioned that various points of which the government and the tourism stakeholders need to work together for the achievement of a common goal. “The pandemic has created a sense of insecurity amongst the travellers. They have to be assured that all is well and perhaps also be incentivised to come to India. We are in talks with the insurance providers and the Ministry of Finance to work out the same,” she shared. The ADG further went on to explain how her recent trip to Kolkata helped clear her doubts regarding travel, which she narrated in a brief video made from the airport itself.
“Going forward, we are planning to come out with a series of short videos, which will reassure people that it is safe to travel again. It is important to send out positive messages so that the fear that people have regarding travel is put to rest,” Ms. Brar cited, adding, “The Ministry and the tourism industry needs to come together to create more information platforms, which is something that is lacking at the moment. Our Buddhist sector, which we are promoted, needs to be leveraged further to get the desired results. Putting things together in an organised manner is all that is needed – an ideal example of which is talking about the infrastructure. In our channels of advertising and communication, we need to highlight the infrastructural growth of our country as well. After USA, India has the second largest road network in the world and there are not many who know this. If we do things together and we do it right, we can together look at a strong bounce back in 2021.”
Following the talk, there were suggestions pouring in from the various Association heads. While the IATO President talked about opening the monuments in Maharashtra, especially given the fact that the flights to the region are open, the ICPB Vice Chairman talked about not just having a separate marketing plan for MICE in India but also creating a fund to promote this very integral branch of tourism that contributes immensely to the economy. TAAI President raised a very valid point regarding training the front liners in the travel industry and skill and educate them to sell domestic tourism. President ADTOI emphasised that inter-state travel and communication is still lacking and there needs to be developed some incentive for people to start travelling domestically.
