In light of the upcoming 35th IATO Annual Convention, E M Najeeb, Senior Vice President, IATO, feels that the time is just right and in sync with this year’s convention theme – “Is Tourism Thriving – Challenges and Opportunities”. During the two and a half day convention, numerous discussions and deliberations will be made to not just understand the tourism scenario better but also devise ways and means to not just survive but thrive in the given times. Here are his thoughts, shared exclusively with BOTT India.
Priyanka Saxena Ray
Please share with us your thoughts, expectations and hopes from the upcoming IATO Convention?
Each annual convention of IATO is unique in its own way. This year it is the 35th Annual Convention of IATO, and that is being conducted at a very important metro like Kolkata. Kolkata, is a very strategic entry point to the Eastern India. IATO is going to Kolkata with the Convention after 17 years, and this is a happy occasion for the members of the IATO as well as the Tourism, Travel and Hospitality industry stakeholders in that region. The theme of the convention is a very relevant subject like “Is Tourism Thriving – Challenges and Opportunities”. This is a right time to check our efforts and assess the progress of Tourism in India. This will be a very ideal opportunity for everyone to gather and deliberate on the topic in a critical and self-assessing way.
I expect the convention would ponder over all aspects of the topic to convince us whether Tourism is growing or thriving. We have challenges to overcome. At the same time, we have great opportunities too. This is a very important point to be discussed and pertinent points to be arrived at. The 34th Convention discussed about achieving the 20 Million target for tourist arrivals. The Government and the industry were geared up towards that but, there were many challenges to be faced later internationally and nationally.
We have great hopes for the future of Tourism in India. We have to find out ways to trigger-off growth in Tourism, look out for opportunities and to address the challenges.
What is your opinion on the state of Inbound Tourism in India? What solutions / possible suggestions would you recommend to the government to help meet the target of 20 million by 2020?
Tourism in India is surely thriving. Government’s strategy itself has been to revive ‘Brand India’, riding the strengths of 5Ts, 3Ds and 3Ss. 5Ts include Tradition, Talent, Tourism, Trade, and Technology. 3Ds are Democracy, Demography, and Demand. 3Ss include Skill, Speed, and Scale. This shows the importance given to Tourism by the Government. The Hon’ble Prime Minister himself has been pronouncing the need for building up tourism in India, including the domestic and inbound tourism. He was stressing the point of developing new destinations for tourism within the country and promoting Tourism movement.
Despite the fact that the world is going through a financial challenge, the figures of Foreign Tourist Visits (FTVs) and Domestic Tourist Visits (DTVs) in India have shown increase. The FTAs were 10.6 million during last year and DTAs were about 1735.24 million. For Tourism movement within India the people need sufficient disposable income, but there is pressure on that. This could be part of the global economic phenomenon, and India would surely come out of it stronger and thriving. Tourism infrastructure should be developed in a planned manner, connectivity should be improved, taxation should be made reasonable, and the destination should be competitively priced. Also, we have to embark on an image and goodwill build-up. India should develop as a great desire in the minds of the tourists’ world over. India has always been an exotic tourist destination, and it would remain to be sought-after in the future too. The Tourism industry in India is confident and full of hope to achieve targets.
Being an integral part of the IATO EC, how, in your opinion, have the IATO Conventions improved over the last few years?
IATO Conventions are major events of the Tourism industry, and particularly for the Tour Operators in India, where hundreds of stakeholders, professionals, business partners and associates come together and discuss all aspects of the Travel and Tourism industry. This is an occasion for the participants to learn, interact, listen and update. Experts and industry leaders address and share their experience and knowledge with the participants. Also, the conventions seek solutions for various problems the industry faces. The previous conventions held in Gandhi Nagar, Mumbai, Kochi, Delhi, Indore, Chennai, Bhubaneswar, and Vishakhapatnam were landmark events in the history of IATO.
Tourism Industry world over is evolving to new formats. Visitor preference are changing. Product innovations have become a must. Service delivery methods and practices are changing. Digitalisation has influenced Tourism so much and it has already brought the products and the end customer closer for easy access. In such a scenario, the Tourism industry players have to reinvent themselves to be meaningfully in the forefront. IATO Conventions are excellent forum for sharing such experiences and information.
