Tag Archives: Chairman

The Travel Agents association of India (TAAI) Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand Chapter held a badminton tournament for its members on January 7, 2018, in Lucknow. Sunil B. Satyawakta, Chairman, TAAI UP & UK Chapter, said, “The tournament was a success. We had received overwhelming response to our Tigerair Cup (TAAI Badminton League – 2016) and that motivated us to hold TAAI Badminton League – 2018. As expected, about 40 per cent more participants registered for this event. They were from travel agencies, tour operators, airlines, tourism boards and hotels.” The league was held at the Babu Banarsi Das UP Badminton Academy in Lucknow. The league was played under the categories: Travel Agents – Singles Male, Travel Agents – Singles Female & Family – Singles, Airlines/GDS/Insurance/Forex/Hotels – Singles, Travel Agents – Doubles Male, Mixed Doubles and Kids under 18. The event was inaugurated by Avnish Awasthi, Principal Secretary & Director General, Uttar Pradesh Tourism. The tournament was sponsored by UP Tourism and supported by Oman Air, Scoot, Fly Dubai, Indigo, Jet Airways, Vistara, Saudia, Asian Roots Tour Co. Ltd., Royal Gulf Tourism Dubai, Decathelon, Udaan, TLC, Levana Suites and Hyatt Regency, Lucknow. Also present were Office Bearers Anupam Shukla, Hon. Secretary, and Umair N Shah, Hon. Treasurer of TAAI Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand Chapter.

A top-level delegation led by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Govt of India, gathered inside Mumbai Port to lay the foundation stone for the new international cruise terminal. Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) proposes to handle 80 per cent of the cruise passengers that will arrive at the port once the terminal is complete. Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, MPT, said, “As per our consultant’s report, we have the potential to bring in 30 lakh passengers. Based on that projection, we have prepared a second SOP on a national level. We have also recently exempted cruise passengers from e-visa and this is in line with our efforts to make immigration process for international tourists easier and faster. With the new terminal, the area of cruise terminal will be 4.15 lakh sq feet, almost 10 times bigger than what we have today.” Bhatia added that the new terminal will have all the facilities of the domestic airport. Also present at the ceremony were Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra and Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of India.

Mumbai’s Sassoon Dock will soon become a tourist attraction once the upgradation project initiated by the Mumbai Port Trust is complete. Sharing details of this is Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust, who says, “Sassoon Dock is getting a complete revamp. We are doing this in four phases. The first phase is just complete. The area that is known to be dirty is getting some sort of a status and upgrade. We are going to spend Rs 51 crore altogether on the revamping of Sassoon Dock.” Tenders have been invited and the work is expected to start in about three or four months, Bhatia said. “This is being done along with the state government and Sagarmala Project. Meanwhile, work has already started at the international cruise terminal whose foundation stone will be laid by the CM and the Shipping Minister on January 11. This will take about two years to get completed. Currently, the demolition work of two godowns is underway after which the construction work shall begin.”  

The Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) is planning to open up a slew of citizen-focused facilities being built at a cost of up to Rs 300 crore over the next six months, a senior official has said. “Many projects are in different stages of development and nearing completion. Works of around Rs 250-300 crore will be opened before the onset of the monsoon,” said Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, MbPT. The port remains one of the biggest land owners in the cramped megapolis and is undertaking a slew of projects aimed at benefiting the citizens and also the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors. The projects to be completed include starting the ropax ship, which ferries both passengers and motor vehicles, from Mumbai to Mandwa for which a separate jetty and break water is being built, a ferry service connecting south Mumbai with Belapur in the satellite city of Navi Mumbai and beautification of the waterfront at Princess Dock. Bhatia said a domestic cruise terminal with restaurants will also be inaugurated, which is slated to handle a cruise service between the financial capital and Goa that will be starting soon. The projects to be inaugurated also include water taxis on the eastern waterfront, two floating restaurants at Gateway of India and one at Marine Drive, he said, adding that for deepening the tourism potential, a ferry service to the Kanhoji Angre island at Khanderi will also be started. The port is planning an event for the Rs 3090-crore International Cruise Terminal on January 11. It will take up to 18 months to complete the project that is aimed at upping the calls by global cruises to the country. MbPT is also working on starting …

Goa has been ranked third in the list of top five states in tourism as per the 5th biennial Hotelivate State Ranking Survey for Tourism in association with the World Travel and Tourism Council-India Initiative (WTTC-II). While Delhi and Maharashtra occupy the top two places, Goa stands third followed by Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. The survey   which looked  at states from the hospitality industry’s standpoint considered 11 parameters  namely, state expenditure on tourism, number of tourist visits, number of branded hotel rooms, GSDP per capital, literacy, aircraft movement, ease of doing business, urbanization, road and rail network, marketing campaigns and some intangible aspects. Manohar Ajgaonkar, Minister for Tourism, Goa, said, “Goa Tourism is in the spotlight again for achieving success in various tourism parameters. It should be our endeavour to get to the top and work on improving in those parameters where we are lagging behind so as to attract more tourists to Goa.” Nilesh Cabral, Chairman, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, said, “It has always been the endeavour of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation to work with various segments of tourism whether infrastructure, accommodation, tourism activities, tourism related development and so on.”

Chander Mansharamani has been re-elected as Vice Chairman of India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) for another two-year term. Amaresh Tiwari and Girish Kwatra will also continue on their respective posts of Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer. This was declared during the association’s 30th Annual General Meeting and Elections for the Governing Board held at The Ashok in New Delhi which was also attended by Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Chairman, ICPB. New appointments were made in the Hotel, Tour Operator and Congress / Convention Centres categories. The two new appointments in the hotel category were Hemant Mediratta and Saurabh Bhargava & Abinash Manghani (due to a tie for the second post). Gunjan Suri and Naveen Chibber took up the two new posts in the travel agency category while Ajay Vinayak and Anuj Wadhwa took the two posts in tour operator category. The post for the Congress / Convention Centres went to Sudeep Sarcar. Talking about the key priorities for the bureau now, Chander Mansharamani, Vice Chairman, ICPB, said, “the government has been looking at us as the frontal organisation for marketing India as a convention destination. Keeping that in mind, we are completely invested to take things to the next level. Currently we have outlined three core areas to focus on; first is market creation wherein creating our chapters and bidding of international conferences will be a part of that. Market creation will involve conducting roadshows both in India and international markets. The second priority is Visa, lobbying and making the entire process easier to get a visa for delegates attending conferences in India and thirdly we want to sensitise the central and state governments on the …

A new campus of Indian Aviation Academy was launched in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. P. Ashok Gajapati Raju, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, inaugrated the campus in the presence of R. N. Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation; Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI); Dr. Dewakar Goel, Director, Indian Aviation Academy (IAA) and Kumar Rajesh Chandra, DG, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The academy is a joint venture by BCAS, AAI and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Mumbai witnessed the gathering of a high-level delegation from different ministries and government authorities who announced their collective plan and focus to develop cruise tourism. Sharing their perspectives were: Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Shipping, Government of India; JaykumarRawal, Minister of Tourism Government of Maharashtra; Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust; Vijay Waghmare, MD, MTDC; and David Dingle, Chairman, Carnival UK. Titled ‘Dawn of Cruise in India’ the seminar was aimed at encouraging cruise tourism in India, more specifically Mumbai, by improving infrastructure, facilitating quick and easy movement of cruise passengers, and easing taxation for cruise companies. Gadkari identified the reasons why cruise tourism had not taken off in India. As one of the initial steps, all relevant government agencies such as port authorities, security agencies, immigration authorities, customs, and port health authorities were identified and formed a task force to first assess the current condition and then look at the global best practices. Speaking at the conference, Rawal said, “Maharashtra is pleased to be the homeport of choice for cruises in India. The association with the shipping Ministry mutually assist to formulate policies to support Maharashtra’s position as a cruise hub. Therefore, there is huge potential for cruise tourism among domestic as well as international travelers. Cruise tourism will assist to earn huge foreign exchange and generate job opportunities.”

TAAI Southern Region has elected K. Shahul Hameed (Director, Al-Awhad Travels) as its new Chairman for the period 2017-2019. S. Sakthi Vadivel (Managing Director, Sansar Tours) has been elected as the Secretary, while N. Karunakaran (Managing Director, Vaigai Wings) is the new Treasurer of TAAI-SR. Meanwhile, TAAI South Tamil Nadu Chapter has elected G. Ravichandar (Executive Director, Trichy Airshine Tours & Travels) as their Chairman for the term 2017-2019. The new secretary for South Tamil Nadu Chapter is N. Ravichandran (Managing Director, Sky To Sea Tours & Travels) and G. Ravindran (Managing Director, Sky Wing India Tours & Travel) is the Treasurer.

Travel Agents Association of India- Northern Region has elected Neeraj Malhotra, Co-founder and CEO, Ganpati Travels, as its new Chairman, while Gaurav Dogra, Founder, Plan Your Holiday, is the new Honorary Secretary. Gurdevinder Singh of Bhagwant Travel and Tours has been elected for the position of Treasurer for 2017-19. Malhotra said, “I am thankful to the team of TAAI-NR for their support and faith in me. Going forward, our first agenda is to consolidate the members and also focus on increasing membership during our term. Since our industry is going through tough times with the implementation of GST, we will be conducting various knowledge sessions to address and explain to the members how they can work under this regime. Also in collaboration with various organisations like PHD Chamber of Commerce and CII, we will be holding education seminars for our members to increase the information quotient. We are also looking at offering value additions to our members like education conferences abroad, more familiarisation trips to learn about new destinations and sell them to increase their revenue arm.” TAAI Northern Region also plans to partner with multiple tourism boards to conduct learning sessions for its members.