An astute and thorough professional, with a fast grip on the trends in travel trade, Amaresh Tiwari, MD, A.T. Seasons and Vacations Travel Pvt. Ltd., has worked hard on his way up the ladder. Donning many hats in his business, travel trade associations and also international federations, Amaresh is truly a MICE expert and one that understands the exhibitions and events industry better than many a professionals. His zeal for achieving excellence in whatever he does and his knack for ‘numbers’, make many people look up to him with envy. BOTT is happy to feature his journey, achievements and aspirations in its exclusive section Fab 40s’.
Priyanka Saxena Ray
Born in a humble family in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, joint family was always Amaresh’s strength as it taught and imbibed in him the values that helped in shaping his career and the principles that he followed in achieving success. His father’s transferable job as a banker ensured that Amaresh saw much of MP as a student and he loved every bit of it. “I did my M.Com from Jabalpur and soon after that Madhav Rao Scindia became the Tourism Minister and introduced a professional degree course called Masters in Tourism Administration (MTA) in Gwalior University. I did that course and came to Delhi to do a job in tourism,” he reminisces.
But it wasn’t as easy as it appeared since MTA was a new course back then and not many people knew about it. However, Amaresh went on to do his first job under the late Major Murlidhar and what made him stand apart from the rest were his accounting skills, given his background and education in commerce. From airport handling to accompanying groups, Amaresh did it all before handling the corporate outbound travel at Caair Travels, which handled the TRS for American Express Travels. When the online wave gripped India, he got on an online travel company boat and was attached with them for close to two years.
It was in 2002, while appearing for an interview for a senior post at Select World Vacations, a job profile that demanded someone to be an expert at ‘Leisure Travel’, Amaresh voiced his views on how MICE is the future of travel – an insight that made him explore the possibility of opening up his own company perhaps, catering to MICE traffic in India. “With complete support of my wife and parents, I opened my company – A.T. Seasons and Vacations Travel and started working from home only. The first year was tough because I started afresh, without breaking the business of any of my previous employers or competition. However, soon enough I got my first break of hosting a Hindustan Times Conference in Rajasthan, wherein my work was much appreciated. That lead me to CII and I got the contact to host the ‘Made in India’ conferences in many countries such as China, Thailand, Romania, Colombo and more. All major industrialists participated in these conferences and I was fortunate to hold the background operations of a conference of such magnitude. In 2008, Reed Exhibitions came to India and because of my great work with CII, I was made the official agent of Reed shows and conferences in India and there was no looking back after that,” shares Amaresh with a contended smile.
Close to two decades now and Amaresh Tiwari still doesn’t have a “sales team” to back his business. His customer retainership is 96%, which speaks volumes about the quality of his work. What is also interesting to note is that things didn’t stop at A.T. Seasons and Vacations Travel as there were new verticals and companies floated over the last few years. “As the kitty started to grow, I started keeping staff, moved to bigger office space; became the Co-Founder in a company called “Chrysalid Outdoors” that offers camping options to corporates, students and more; and CEO of “Meetings and Incentives World”, which is a dedicated company for MICE. I love to create concept for organisers, give them ideas to do the program, research and provide data for the various agencies and also do a lot of leadership programs and management development programs,” he adds.
In 2006, he started applying for membership in various trade associations and realised that the approval process took a very long time – much more than necessary and that these associations were working on an extreme bureaucratic set-up, which resulted in unnecessary delays. Not one to sit back and complain about systems and practices, Amaresh jumped in to the world of Associations and became an active member in IATO and ICPB. He has been a Board Member of ICPB for last 8 years and General Secretary since 2015. He was part of founding team who set up SITE India Chapter and served chapter as Hony. Treasurer till 2018. With a focus of bringing in qualitative change in the trade associations, Amaresh Tiwari and Rajeev Kohli, who is a mentor, a guide and a dear friend, fought the IATO elections and became part of the EC in 2012. A silent worker who doesn’t believe in hogging too much limelight, Amaresh worked as a Treasurer at IATO for two consecutive terms and claims to have put systems in place. He is also the man responsible behind the successful take-off of ‘IATO Run for Responsible Tourism’, which has been made in to a regular feature at the association’s annual conventions.
“I feel sad that a powerful association, such as IATO is even today running on age old principles. It is a not for profit organisation and it should look for ways and means to pay back to the states by helping promote them in the India market. The focus should be on empowering the members and leave a legacy behind to cherish, rather than spending money on frivolous issues. Same ‘Kit Bags’ and ‘business sessions’ rule its conventions and there are only few people within the association who talk about new ideas and strategies. They should spread knowledge to the members of the industry, work with important verticals, such as guides and include them in IATO, create divisions, bring in specialised experts – all with a singular aim of empowering its members. It was only because Adventure, Domestic and MICE felt neglected that they all went on to make their own associations. Had IATO acted as an umbrella association, as it claims itself to be, these bifurcations wouldn’t have happened. IATO should strive to become a one-stop-shop for all the woes and concerns of the travel industry. People have to step out of their comfort zone and be fearless if they want the travel trade industry to grow,” concludes Amaresh.
