Category Archives: Associations

Ministry of Tourism has appreciated Vasuki K. Sundaram, Chairperson, IATO Maharashtra Chapter, on twitter for her positive feedback on her recent trip to Shirdi, where she mentions that her experience was great in the temple without crowds, social distancing maintained, hotels adhering to compliances, and she pointed out that the wayside amenities on her way back to Mumbai were clean. MOT, in their tweet shared a video of Sundaram saying that it shows the idea of Dekho Apna Desh being executed thoroughly.

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) is seeking a sector-specific loan restructuring plan from the government. It says that in order to save the industry from imminent collapse, loan extensions should be given to the sector on similar lines as those given under the Prime Minister’s scheme for loans below Rs 25 crore for SMEs and MSMEs.

Sunil C Gupta, Chapter Chairman, IATO -Northern Region, has said that the construction of Agra Metro Project, inaugurated by the Prime Minister, would make many monuments like Sikandra and Rambagh accessible to tourists. “There are a lot of tourists—both domestic and international coming to Agra. The Agra Metro for the first time connects the monuments of Agra and especially monuments alike Sikandra and Rambagh, which due to traffic congestion, distance and time taken to travel to these monuments were not being visited. Now the tourists will be able to easily visit these monuments. The Metro will also ease the traffic. This metro is going to be world-class and will be better than the ones in Lucknow and Noida,” he said.

Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI) in association with its Northern Region Chapter HRANI, organised a webinar to educate members about the MSME registration process, the various schemes and policies of the Ministry of MSME, and the means of availing them. Among the speakers were Manoj Sharma, Assistant Director of Ministry of MSME; and Dr HP Kumar, CMD of National Small Industries Corporation, who spoke on how the hospitality industry can jumpstart their businesses with the help of Ministry of MSME, which offers more than 70 schemes for this sector. The Chief Guest for the webinar was Anand Sherkhane, Addl Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME.

The Tamil Nadu Travel Mart Society has elected a new Managing Committee after the AGM in Chennai. D Karunanidhi is the new President while Palani Murugesan and PK Gupta are new Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

FAITH has requested the Government that till the time vaccine is deployed, they should set up a targeted tourism transition fund which can make money available on a direct benefit transfer through Ministry of Finance for Indian tourism & hospitality industry. This drawdown by the tourism enterprises may be adjustable over 5 years against their GST & income tax liabilities.  

IATO and TravTalk are organising motivational session by Roshan Suhail, the renowned communication coach and keynote speaker today at 11:30am. The session titled, ‘Staying up’ would help the trade to sail through these tough times and prepare ahead. To register, mail Jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call 9650196532.

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has stated that nearly 25% of businesses will permanently shut down before the end of this financial year. “The industry anticipates poor business for at least another year. Until then, it needs working capital. If we are allowed to wind up, rebuilding it will prove to be an even bigger challenge,” says Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, its VP.  

IATO and TravTalk are organising a motivational session by Roshan Suhail, the renowned communication coach and keynote speaker on Friday 27th November, 2020 at 11:30am. The session titled, ‘Staying up’ will be fruitful in helping the trade to sail through these tough times and prepare ahead. To register, call Jaspreet 9650196532 or email: jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com.

In its pre-budget recommendations, FAITH demanded that industry status is required for hotels and tourism across all states and export status critical to double India’s share of inbound tourism.