Category Archives: Associations

Data from the Annual Travel Monitor 2019 Final Edition (ATM) released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) last month shows that Asia continued to dominate the supply of international visitor arrival numbers (IVAs) into Asia Pacific in 2018, generating close to 63% of the 696.5 million IVAs into the region. In percentage growth terms between 2017 and 2018, Africa outbound into Asia Pacific had the strongest annual increase at over 13% year-on-year, followed by Europe at almost 11% and then Asia at 7.3%. The nondescript ‘Others’ category increased by 7.5% in 2018, year-on-year.

PATA India Chapter is organising its 8th Update and Outlook Meeting on 21 November which will have Meenakshi Sharma, DG, Tourism who will update the attendees on the initiatives and achievements of the Ministry and will also talk about India Tourism’s advanced website, and what it can do for the members’ and attendees’ business development efforts. The event will be held at Taj Palace, New Delhi. DG Tourism will also share details on MOT’s online Tourism Education & Tourist facilitator/guide program, and how it can be used for building a tourism friendly approach. Sharma would be updating on the progress and impact of Adopt a heritage program by MOT, and how it benefits PATA India Chapter members and the tourist. In addition, she will be taking up queries of the attendees. To confirm participation for the meeting, write to manager@pataindia.org latest by November 15, 2019.

According to the Annual Travel Monitor 2019 Final Edition (ATM) released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), over the five years between 2014 and 2018, the 46 Asia Pacific destinations covered in the report have collectively seen their International Visitor Arrivals (IVAs) increase by almost 24%, adding more than 136 million additional arrivals to the collective foreign inbound count in the process.

PATA India Chapter will organise the second edition of its Tourism Powerhouse on December 6, which will see a variety of speakers from the travel industry in India and abroad, revealed Runeep Sangha, Executive Director, PATA India Chapter. He adds, “The theme of the event is ‘The Big Leap Forward’ and the speakers at the Tourism Powerhouse will be sharing their experiences and suggestions to accelerate growth.”

Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Director, Pritam Hotels has been re-elected as the President of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) at its 69th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Mumbai. Kohli has been serving in the office as its President for the year 2018–19 and will now continue to serve in the same capacity. He is also the Vice President of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI). Mr. Sherry Bhatia will serve as the Sr. Vice President along with Mr. Pradeep Shetty as the Vice President. Mr. Nirav Gandhi has been appointed as the Honorary Secretary and Mr. Chetan Mehta will act as the Joint Honorary Secretary. Mr. Dilip Kothari will continue in the office as the Honorary Treasurer and Mr. Aspi Nallaseth as Secretary General. “I wish to thank the members for placing their trust in me and re-electing me to the office for a second term and also welcome the newly elected members to the committee. The last year was a challenging phase for the industry with the OTAs and the FSAs infringing on hoteliers’ and restaurateurs’ businesses. With the support of our members and the HRAWI team, we not only were successful in keeping a check on their callous activities but we also brought the entire country together for voicing out against the erring entities. We are determined about pursuing this matter to its equitable and fair conclusion. In the meanwhile, we will continue working inclusively with the Government for creating a favorable environment for the growth of hospitality and tourism in the country,” says Mr Kohli. A second generation hotelier, Mr Kohli is the owner of Dadar’s famous Pritam restaurant, …

PATA Travel Mart 2019 (PTM 2019), hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kazakh Tourism National Company, has attracted 347 sellers from 180 organisations and 34 destinations, along with 252 buyers from 244 organisations and 48 source markets with first time buyers comprising 44% of the total. Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, says, “This is the first time that PATA is organising an event in Central Asia, and our aim is to highlight the unexplored region of Central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan. Unexplored by many, PATA Travel Mart provides the perfect opportunity to showcase this unique destination vast landscapes and beautiful culture and heritage.”

NIMA has recently launched its Southern Region office in Vizag. K Vijay Mohan was nominated as the co-ordinator for the Southern Region. The Commissioner of Police, Vizag, Rajeev Kumar Meena graced the occasion. Former MLA Malla Vijay Prasad, Entrepreneur Pyda Krishan Prasad, Raja Babu of Sunray Resorts and Naresh Kumar were other dignitaries present during the launch.  NIMA’s National Coordinator Gajesh Girdhar, Rakesh Arora and Jagdeep Bhagat were present too. The State Chapters for Telangana with Siraj Ansari as it’s State Coordinator and Andhra Pradesh with Dheeraj Praharaju as it’s State Coordinator were also installed during the recent visit of NIMA’s National team to the region.

ADTOI is going to launch its 11th Chapter in Madhya Pradesh on September 08, 2019 at Minto Hall, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Surendra Singh Baghel, Hon’ble Tourism Minister of Madhya Pradesh has very kindly accorded his consent  to grace the occasion as Chief Guest of the function. Shri. Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board will also be present during the chapter launch.   Names of the nominated Office Bearers of the ADTOI M.P. chapter are as follows:-ATUL SINGH OF TRAVEL CONNECTION, INDORE-  CHAPTER CHAIRMAN. PRATUL TRIVEDI OF LETZ GO MICE, INDORE-  CHAPTER SECRETARY SANDEEP PANDYA OF TOUR TRAVEL WORLD, BHOPAL-   CHAPTER TREASURER NEELAM SINGH OF TRAVEL INDIA TOURISM, BHOPAL-   CHAPTER LADY ENTREPRENEUR OFFICER (LEO) 

The Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) is soon going to launch its new website and will prove handy and useful for members in terms of new features and added benefits. Sharing more details, Sidharth Khanna, Treasurer, OTOAI said they are looking to unveil the website in next 10-15 days. He says, “We have been working on the new website and we felt the need to revamp the existing website. The new website will be more interactive for the members and will give them an opportunity to interact with each other. The key feature of the website would be that members can post a deal for the B2B, who is in the market on this new platform, which can be viewed by all the existing members. It will also give you all the updates about what the association has been doing, what is in the pipeline for the future. There is going to be a calendar of events apart from other exciting and useful features.”

Considering the option of Joint Bank Guarantee for hotels and discussing its viability, Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India, says, “We are open to consider Joint Bank Guarantee option but it would require a prior and complete scrutiny and understanding of the JBG terms and conditions. For instance, the JBG  should be given by either the TA or a renowned association on behalf of the agent so that there is a guarantee for payments for the hotels and the TA can enjoy extended credit.”