Category Archives: Associations

Commenting on the government’s decision to scrap Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir and bifurcating the state in two union territories, PP Khanna, President, Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI) said that the Union Government’s move will definitely affect the number of tourists going to the state amidst fear and security reasons. He adds, “The tourism industry has already come to standstill in the state after the government ordered to stop the Amarnath Yatra and asked all the tourists to leave the state immediately. There is a sense of fear and security concern among visitors amid presence of military forces and possibility any riot-like situation in the valley. If the government itself doesn’t want tourists to stay in the state so how the industry will motivate the visitors to travel to the state? It has become hard for us to promote the state currently with such sensitive condition. Going forward, it will deeply impact the number of tourists.”

Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, IATO, says, “I am quite hopeful that situation should normalise soon with the change in the scenario as tourism is the main bread and butter of the people of Kashmir. Although the number of tourists has gone down recently, I think that by September, the situation should become normal and tourists will start going back to Jammu & Kashmir. Once things start settling down, we will plan a roadshow in association with our state chapter to promote the destination again among FTOs and DMCs. I think tourism will grow now with more international hotel chains coming into the region. With Ladakh being a separate union territory, the development of the area will take place and again it will become a friendly tourist destination.”

Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI) is all set to open two new chapters in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Tamil Nadu after its convention, revealed PP Khanna, President, (ADTOI). “Once we are free from the convention, we are planning to start two more chapters, which are almost ready, which will be in MP and Tamil Nadu. By September-October, we will have new entrants in the ADTOI family,” he adds.

Neeraj Malhotra, Co-founder and CEO, Ganpati Travels has been re-elected as the Chairman, Northern Region, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI). Gaurav Dogra, Founder, Plan Your Holiday was re-elected as the Hony. Secretary uncontested. Manish Saxena, Executive Director, Century Travels is the new Hony. Treasurer. The election was conducted at Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel, New Delhi. On being declared the Chairman, Malhotra said, “I am thankful for the members in the region to come in big numbers and vote for me. I am truly overwhelmed and I will be continuing my pursuit to educate the members of the region, and bring technology to them to boost their businesses.”  

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) has launched its online marketplace for members—TAFI Connect. Ashwani Sharma, Chapter Chairman, TAFI-North, said “TAFI Connect would be the online tool for members to conduct their business online with a huge inventory of hotels and packages. It would also allow them to do business with each other,” he added. Pranita Baveja, Founder & CEO, Traviate.com, showcased the features of TAFI Connect and even gave them a demo of the product. Members can now enroll themselves and be live on TAFI Connect to use its services and grow their businesses.  

Winners of the 2019 PATA Grand and Gold Awards were recently revealed by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). It has been announced that Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, will be presented the PATA Gold Award 2019 for Marketing – Primary Government Destination for its ‘Find the Incredible You’ campaign. The awards will be handed over at the 2019 PATA Gold Awards Dinner and Award Presentation in Nur-Sultan (Astana), Kazakhstan, during PATA Travel Mart 2019. This year’s awards attracted 197 entries from 78 organisations and individuals worldwide, and winners were selected by an independent judging committee. Dr. Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, said, “On behalf of PATA, I would like to extend our warmest congratulations to all the 2019 Grand and Gold Award winners, as well as all of this year’s participants for their submissions. I look forward to celebrating the accomplishment of this year’s winners who truly represent the values of the Association in working towards a more responsible travel and tourism industry in the Asia Pacific region.”

Capt. Swadesh Kumar, President, ATOAI, claims that they had high hopes from the government this time, but budget again disappoints. Nothing in there especially for the tourism industry. From our end, we have been having a lot of meetings with the government, and had also submitted a wishlist, but nothing has come of it. Adventure tourism is the future of job generation in India with many adventure activities possible in all parts of India, may that be the Himalayas, deserts or coastlines. It’s unfortunate that this has not been considered. The impetus on last mile connectivity through building 1.25 lakh kilometers of roads under PM Gram Sadak Yojna is a positive move. The only news in the tourism front stressed on development of 17 iconic tourism sites to be upgraded to world class levels to attract domestic as well as foreign tourists. The Prime Minister had identified that out of the Five pillars (Five Ts), ‘Tourism’ is one of the most important, and, in India, it aims to achieve greater heights and new milestones. But that is missing in this budget.

Complementing the Finance Minister for her maiden budget, Sanjay Narula, Vice President, TAAI, says that more has been outlaid for infrastructure. “I appreciate the fact that FDI has been relaxed for aviation and surface transport has got impetus because if you don’t have good roads, the tourism doesn’t get a boost. In terms of tourism we expected more. On taxation there should have been some relief for the industry, which has not come,” he says.

PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, says that while a lot of focus has been given to infrastructure in the Budget, not much has been done on tourism apart from development of 17 iconic sites. At the same time, I must appreciate the focus on railways which connects most of India domestically and that should really help boost domestic tourism, especially with the involvement of private players. Even the progress in Swachch Bharat Abhiyan is commendable and initiatives there are appreciated. The last mile connectivity gets a further boost with the upgradation of roads with an investment of 802.5 billion rupees. However, the safety part of adventure tourism for domestic tourists should have been looked into and enhancement of such facilities should happen. Taxation also needs to be looked into since not much clarity has been given to GST.

Pradip Lulla, Acting President and VP, TAFI, believes that there are no sops in this year’s Budget to boost the travel industry. “I hope that GST on services provided by travel agents at 18 per cent will be reviewed. Further, corporate tax reduction to 25 percentage is only on turnover of Rs 400 crore which excludes most of us! Also, double taxation on our tour pricing has been having a cascading on our costs making us uncompetitive. I hope that the industry receives some relief from the GST Council in future,” he said.