Category Archives: Associations

The Enterprising Travel Agent’s Association (ETAA) is preparing to conduct its second webinar for its members on April 8,2020. This time it will be on technology conducted by Karthik Venkataraman, Head of Business Development, GMR Tech Solutions. He will talk about the importance of having a digital presence during such challenging times. The association’s first webinar was conducted on April 6, 2020 where more than 100 ETAA members from across India attended. This webinar focussed on ‘Bonding’ and it was a one hour session conducted by TEDX speaker Bharat Jethani who also helps in community building. The members also suggested some unexplored destinations that can be promoted to domestic tourists once things get back to normal. ETAA plans to conduct more such events in the future to engage its members.

Addressing concerns from member agencies regarding refunds/credits from airlines/ IATA due to the impact of Covid2019 as customers are demanding refunds from travel agents, TAAI has said, “With reference to the unilateral decision of the airlines to give credit notes and no cash refunds, we have made it very clear to all concerned that, cash refunds are required due to the global pandemic situation. It is the right of the passenger to get back his amount paid in stipulated time. Cancellation charges shall not be borne by the traveller due to the cancellation of flights/ lockdown situations/ banning of flights by government of India as well as of other countries, etc.” In an official statement by TAAI to its members, it was written, “We are in daily communications with the Indian Prime Minister’s office(PMO), Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Ministry of Tourism (MOT), Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), Niti Aayog, IATA Global Head Quarters, IATA-India, all airlines individually including Low Cost airlines in India. We are working in support with, all associations of travel, tourism & hospitality trade under UFTAA, FAITH, CII and other leading trade bodies. Our concerns have been voiced not only in our communications but also in mainline media being TV channels & newspapers, trade media as well as social media.” The TAAI team urged its members to be patient, claiming that the as Govt. of India, is prioritising the requests of citizens, industries, trade, travellers, etc. and are actioning to the best of their abilities, with timelines. “Their main objective right now is to ensure the health safety of all persons and providing proper medical …

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has announced the launch of the PATA Crisis Resource Center and Tourism Recovery Monitor, a unified platform that provides reliable and up-to-date policy statements, authoritative information, and tourism indicators from around the globe. The aim is to provide a global centralised repository of reliable information for users based on their needs. The PATA Crisis Resource Center is a result of a pilot Expert Task Force (ETF) led by PATA Immediate Past Chair Sarah Mathews to accumulate knowledge, generate support, and help members and industry stakeholders across the globe access solutions by governments, while also assisting governments in understanding the challenges through the travel impact survey. PATA Vice Chair Soon Hwa Wong also led an ETF to establish the PATA Tourism Recovery Monitor, an integrated resource for strategic tourism planners and decision makers to keep fully abreast of the fast changing environment. Both initiatives are housed under one microsite.

As of March 2020, out of 4,632 meetings scheduled for the year 2020, ICCA and CIMERT have found a total of 393 international association meetings which have been identified for postponements, cancellations and relocation due to COVID-19, which is 8.5% of the total events. Out of these 41 per cent are in the Asia Pacific. The unfolding COVID-19 crisis has significantly affected the meetings industry with events being postponed, relocated or cancelled. Since February 2020, ICCA and CIMERT have embarked on a joint research project to bring their connected expertise together to monitor the status of meetings in the ICCA Association Database. This is part of ICCA’s wider initiative to work with CIMERT (Center of International Meetings Research and Training, Supported by ICCA) to track meetings which have been affected by the outbreak of a new coronavirus disease now called COVID-19.

Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India’s (HRAWI) has offered the State Government access to over 500 of its member hotel rooms in the city. Amidst the lockdown, hotels across the country are doing their bit to instill hope and spread the message of love in the ensuing Novel Coronavirus outbreak. Part of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India’s (HRAWI) attempt to keep its members tethered and united during a crises which has affected the hospitality sector the most, hotels are displaying the symbolic heart across the front facades of their building properties. The heart is also a show of support and appreciation to all the women and men working across disciplines to keep the wheels of humanity moving. “These are the most trying times for us humans, as a race. Knowing that there is someone out there for you if you need them, gives hope. At this juncture, we all need hope and we are doing everything that we can to offer it. The lit up heart is a symbolic representation of the hospitality and tourism industry and we want to tell everyone that we’re here for them,” says Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, President, HRAWI.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has released its updated assessment of the likely impact of the COVID-19 on international tourism. Considering the unparalleled introduction of travel restrictions across the world, the UN specialised agency for tourism expects that international tourist arrivals will be down by 20% to 30% in 2020 when compared with 2019 figures. However, UNWTO stresses that these numbers are based on the latest developments as the global community faces up to an unprecedented social and economic challenge and should be interpreted with caution in view of the extreme uncertain nature of the current crisis. An expected fall of between 20-30% could translate into a decline in international tourism receipts (exports) of between US$300-450 billion, almost one third of the US$ 1.5 trillion generated in 2019. Taking into account past market trends, this would mean that between five to seven years’ worth of growth will be lost to COVID-19. Putting this into context, UNWTO notes that in 2009, on the back of the global economic crisis, international tourist arrivals declined by 4%, while the SARS outbreak led to a decline of just 0.4% in 2003. Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General, UNWTO said, “Tourism is among the hardest hit of all economic sectors. However, tourism is also united in helping to address this immense health emergency – our first and utmost priority – while working together to mitigate the impact of the crisis, particularly on employment, and to support the wider recovery efforts through providing jobs and driving economic welfare worldwide.”  

According to a recent survey conducted by Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) among its members worldwide, including corporate travel managers and travel suppliers, 75 per cent of the respondents said that their companies were frequently hosting virtual meetings as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. With advances in technology, online meetings have now become the alternative to face-to-face meetings, most of which now stand either cancelled or suspended. This may well be a trend in the near future.

Up to 75 million jobs are at immediate risk in global Travel & Tourism due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The alarming figure, based on research from WTTC, shows a punishing Travel & Tourism GDP loss to the world economy of up to US$2.1 trillion in 2020. The latest projection of a 50% increase in jobs at risk, in less than two weeks , represents a significant and worrying trend, with an astounding one million jobs being lost every day in the Travel & Tourism sector, due to the sweeping effect of the coronavirus pandemic. The analysis by WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, also exposes the depth of the crisis for individual regions. Asia-Pacific is expected to be most heavily impacted with up to 49 million jobs at risk throughout the region, representing a loss of nearly US$800 billion to Travel & Tourism GDP. The latest figures also suggest that in Europe, up to 10 million jobs in Travel & Tourism are at risk, totaling a loss of nearly US$552 billion.   The Americas are also expected to be hit hard by this crisis, with the United States, Canada and Mexico expected to lose up to US$570 billion combined, with nearly seven million jobs in Travel & Tourism at risk. Other countries expected to be hit hard by this crisis include Brazil, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, Indonesia and India.   Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: “The number of jobs now at risk in the global Travel & Tourism sector is a staggering 75 million, bringing real and profound worry to millions of …

On 24th March 2020, the Hon Secretary of IATO called an emergency EC meeting to discuss the IATO election process in light of the COVID-19 epidemic.  Where the date of withdrawal of nominations of 24th March by 3 pm was postponed. Withdrawal of nominations received so far stands invalid. Also, it was decided that the returning officer shall call a meeting on the 6th of April, 2020 to take stock of the situation on ground and decide upon possible dates for withdrawal of nominations and elections or if need arises, to further defer or cancel the elections for the time being.  

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation has formed a Global Tourism Crisis Committee in response to the global outburst of COVID-19 and several countries announcing lockdown. In the coming days, UNWTO will release a set of recommendations for recovery. The document will highlight the steps governments and other authorities need to take to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector and to then accelerate recovery. The UNWTO-led Committee will hold regular virtual meetings, reflecting the need for coordinated and efficient action by the private and public sectors, governments and  international financing institutions. The world tourism body further emphasise the call for international cooperation to underscore a united response based on latest public health recommendations and reflecting the deep economic ripple effect and social cost of the pandemic.