With a massive turnout of members from all parts of India, the Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI) kicked off to a grand start at The Hyatt Regency Ahmedabad on August 16, 2019. LIGHTING OF THE LAMP, GANESH VANDANA and insightful speeches by an August panel of dignitaries set the mood for a grand Day 2. Below is BOTT’s exclusive coverage of the inauguration ceremony.
Priyanka Saxena Ray
The inauguration kick-started with the 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.
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. 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. The emphasis is to encourage 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.
Shri S.J. Haider, Principal Secretary, Gujarat Tourism
Talked about 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.”
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. She also explained how MoT has suggested few routes to Ministry of Civil Aviation that can help boost domestic tourist. Out of these, 8 routes have already become operational. The MoT has revamped its website and has become more interactive.
Mr. Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India
Talked about the 5 S of tourism
“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 employment. 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
He talked and enumerated on the various offerings of Gujarat while elucidating how boosting tourism will I 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 for a month, such is the potential of its tourism offerings.
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.
