Tag Archives: Chairman

Yogendra Tripathy, Chairman and Managing Director, Food Corporation of India (FCI), has been appointed as Secretary—Tourism, Government of India, on retirement of Rashmi Verma at the end of November, according to recent appointments of senior officials by the government. Tripathy has been associated with FCI since July 30, 2015. He is a 1985 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.

In an attempt to bring  all organisations and individuals engaged in the rural tourism space under one umbrella, the Association for Rural Tourism in India (ARTI) has been unveiled during the International Conference on Rural Tourism Development held at Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi. Satyajeet Rajan, Founding Member and Director General (Tourism), Government of India, launched the association amidst stalwarts and pioneers of rural tourism world over. On the occasion, Steve Borgia, Founding member and CMD, INDeco Hotels said that ARTI will unite all hoteliers, NGOs and individuals working in the space of rural tourism. “As a task long due, this association is not only meant to hand-hold the tourism initiative, but also share and sustain the efforts. It is also now very important  that we influence our governments at both the centre and the state along with NGOs to use rural tourism as a tool to mend the ailing backbone of our villages,” he said. Other founding members present at the occasion include SK Misra, Chairman, Indian Trust for Rural Heritage and Development and Former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India; Sujit Banarjee, Secretary General, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC); MP Bezbaruah, Former Secretary, Ministry for Tourism and Honorary Permanent Representative, UNWTO; Jose Dominic ,CEO, CGH Earth Group; Supratim Raj Basu, Founder & Director, Help Tourism.  

Manipur Tourism recently organised a curtain-raiser of the upcoming Manipur Sangai Festival at Select Citywalk in Delhi. Officials from Manipur Tourism along with its stakeholders shared updates on the ongoing preparations for the largest tourism festival of the state scheduled to be held from November 21-30. Famous personalities from the state including Mary Kom, MP, Rajya Sabha and Padma Bhushan Awardee; Sarita Laishram, former World Boxing Champion; and P Kenedy Singh, former Indian Football Captain promoted the event in the city. Dr Sapam Ranjan Singh, Chairman, Tourism Corporation of Manipur stated that the festival will be inaugurated in Imphal on November 21, while two other districts Bishnupur and Senapati will also play host to the festival and have a line-up of events ranging from half-marathon, water sports and trekking to other adventure activities. The festival takes its name from the state’s unique, shy and gentle brow-antlered Sangai Deer. The Sangai Deer is found only in Manipur’s floating Keibul Lamjao National Park at Loktak lake.

The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) has unveiled India’s first engine-less, semi-high speed train in Chennai. Called ‘Train 18’, the special train will replace Shatabdi Express in the coming months after being inducted in the Indian Railways and undergoing mandatory safety checks. Flagging off the special train, Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani said Train 18 will be a game changer for the Indian Railways. The fully-air-conditioned 16-coach train can clock up to 160kmph compared to the 30-year old Shatabdi Express and can save travel time up to 15 per cent.

Hilton has expanded its footprint in the country by launching DoubleTree by Hilton in Goa – Panaji. A unit of Goldfinch Hotels and managed by Hilton, the hotel reiterates Hilton’s aim to double its presence in the country over the next few years. Navjit Ahluwalia, Senior Vice President and Country Head, Hilton India, said, “This property has a number of standout amenities that could offer all our guests unmatched experiences. We are committed to India for the long-term and will continue to make significant investments to expand our presence and further enrich our operational and management capabilities.” Prakash Shetty, Chairman, MRG Group, says, “This resort is testimony to my vision to bring world-class hospitality to Goa by partnering with Hilton. We have augmented a number of products and services across the property to deliver bespoke guest experiences to cater to the needs of global citizens. This resort will also be the first in Goa to offer Mangalorean cuisine at its specialty restaurant Feliz.” With 160 guestrooms including nine suites, equipped with signature DoubleTree by Hilton amenities, the resort features environmentally friendly smart lighting. DoubleTree by Hilton Goa – Panaji offers indoor and outdoor venues for conferences and events – a grand ballroom, two boardrooms and sunset lawns along with state-of-the-art audio-visual technology.

Union Minister of Railways and Coal, Piyush Goyal has launched ‘Rail Heritage Digitisation Project’ of Indian Railways in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture through video conferencing. The project is a landmark effort to showcase the country’s rail heritage to national and international audience in an online story-telling platform. Ashwani Lohani, Chairman, Railway Board; Rajan Anandan, Vice President—South East Asia and India, Google; Amit Sood, Director, Google Cultural Institute, among other dignitaries and UNESCO representatives were among those present on the occasion. Goyal said, “As a 165 year old organisation, the Railways has a lot of material which we need to preserve and leave behind for posterity. Mumbai has a special place in the Railways, being the first railway line to be set up in India. We will be setting up 22 digital screens across different locations in India for showcasing this historic project. This partnership between the Railways and Google also has the dimension of the Wi-Fi, which we have proliferated to over 400 stations in India.” Lohani said that collaboration with Google Art & Culture has enabled Indian Railways to digitise National Rail Museum, Rewari Steam Centre, three World Heritage Railways, CSMT Mumbai building and other prominent aspects of country’s rail heritage.

With a day stacked with business sessions focusing on imperative issues and state presentations, the audience was treated with intense discussions on day one of the two-day convention in Vishakhapatnam. The day started with the conventional IATO Run for Responsible Tourism in the morning. The first session of the day aimed to highlighted the challenges of touching the ambitious milestone of 20 million foreign tourist arrivals within the next few years. The panelists also touched upon the ways in which this can be achieved. The second session brought together members of key hotel companies face to face with tour operators to discuss what both industries can do to help the other since it is getting harder and harder to do business, whether it is the hotels or the travel trade.  The following session had an all-women panel who spoke about their personal experiences that are evidence that India is a safe country. However, they did present ways in which the safety of women travellers could improve. The final panel discussion, moderated by Rajesh Mudgill, MD, Planet India Travels, deliberated on how to change one’s business to adapt to the changing mindset of today’s travellers. In between the state presentations and panel discussions, the audience also took advantage of individual presentations made by Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH; an informative session on how travel agents can use digital marketing by Avijit Arya, Founder, Internet Mogul.  

K V Abul Nazar, Chairman and Managing Director, Akbar Travels recently met with the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan and handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore towards the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund. Owing a majority of its growth story to Kerala, Akbar Travels currently has 35 branches in the state, spanning almost all the districts of God’s own country. Currently, the company has a total of 57 IATA approved branches and 40 non- IATA offices across India.

After the severe floods in Kerala, the tourism industry in the state is geared to be back in business by September 1, 2018, says Sejoe Jose, Chairman, IATO Kerala Chapter. “The airports are expected to open on August 26, and even if we keep a buffer owing to DGCA permissions, it should be operational by September 1. In fact, the airport management is insisting to resume operations from August 26,” he adds. Jose insists that tourists would be able to visit Kerala starting September. “Kerala would be ready to receive guests from the first week of September. However, nobody is expecting the bookings to start immediately as it is going to take time. There have been cancellations as well. At a recent meeting with KTM Society, we estimated a loss of Rs 1000 crores for the tourism industry, for people directly and indirectly affected. The loss owing to cancellations is estimated to be around Rs 120 crores,” he informs.

In an aim to update its members about the 34th Annual Convention set to be held from September 6-9, 2018, IATO recently hosted a luncheon meet at Le Meridien, New Delhi. The association felicitated Mukesh Kumar Meena, Secretary Tourism, Andhra Pradesh and Himanshu Shukla, CEO, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority. Convention Chairman Rajeev Mehra said, “We are getting close to our desired goal in meeting the required number of professionals of the trade from various parts of the country to make our 34th Annual Convention successful.” With the utmost support of Andhra Pradesh Tourism, IATO is confident of its convention. Meena, while addressing the members, said, “We are excited to be the hosts for IATO convention as we’ve been looking forward to it since 2016. We will also be hosting post tours for the delegation of about 200 or more.”