Tag Archives: IATO

Ministry of Tourism has kicked off its one-month long virtual roadshow, titled Reconnect 2022, starting with Oman. At the same time, IATO has written to the Prime Minister to help the tourism industry for revival of inbound tourism. In the letter, Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO has suggested that MOT should participate in all major international travel marts/fairs along with industry stake holders and conduct Physical B2B meeting during structured roadshows along with Indiatourism offices and embassies.

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, has thanked the MOT and MoCA for reinstating the Commercial Airport Entry Airport Pass (AEP) for recognized tour operators and hotels. “We have been trying for a long time and now the orders have finally come. Now, at least when the borders open, our members can apply for airports passes in the same manner as they used to earlier, except there has been some capping on the number of passes available, for which we were given indication two years back, when the airport passes were being suspended,” he said.

Rajnish Kaistha, Hony. Secretary, IATO, has said that the allocation for tourism budget for overseas promotions have been reduced, which in turn would affect the inbound business, especially when the borders open. “Government needs to allocate higher budgets for overseas promotion, publicity and marketing, along with MDA, because that is needed for our survival. The MDA gives us money to go and participate in the overseas trade shows and promotions abroad so that we get more tourists to start with and also do overseas marketing in an aggressive manner, for which higher budgets are needed. Any reduction in that is going to cause bigger damage in the long run and in the immediate future,” he says.

Sunil C Gupta, Chairman-Northern Region, IATO revealed that there have been two corporate charters on Maharaja Express in December, which was almost 2 years after the luxury train operated in March 2020. “It’s the best train in India on IRCTC. This opens another avenue for incentives to happen on luxury trains. It’s a great idea, which has caught on and more groups are likely to operate in May-June, once things normalise,” he said.

The IATO wrote to PM seeking respite in travel norms and financial aid to overcome the crisis that, has worsened after international flights were postponed. Rajiv Mehra, President IATO, with 1,700 members, want the 7 day quarantine to be waived for vaccinated travellers with a negative RT-PCR report and urged the Centre for financial support to small and medium tour operators, to help save lakhs of jobs.

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, during their 36th convention in Gandhinagar announced that their next convention will be held in September 2022 at Bengaluru. They have even finalised their 2023 convention in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. He also revealed that they have got offers from many other states, one of which is J&K, where they might have a small event very soon.

Sanjay Razdan, Joint Secretary, IATO reveals that the tourism post pandemic has completely changed. He said “Tourists travelling to India want to visit nature based tourist places, foreign tourists are keen to explore natural parks. The bookings that the travel agents are getting are different from what they used to get. International tourist are giving thrust on less popular and less crowded places at present”.

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, has said that with the reinstating of visas they have requested for reinstating airport passes. “Another issue we have taken up with the Government is the restoration of airport passes because when tourist traffic starts, people will start coming. Hence, our airport passes need to be restored immediately. We are in touch with the Government for the same. Also, they have reduced the number of passes per company, which we will cope with currently, but take it up once business comes back. We are in talks for all these issues and I am hopeful that by November 15, some of these major issues are sorted out,” he shared.

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, has shared that e-Tourist visa website has been opened for foreigners, for 30 day validity, which will be counted in the free 5 lakh visa granted by GoI. However, he said that e-visa for UK and Canada has still not been opened, and they still need to apply for paper visa. In addition, the Government should also start scheduled international flights.

In a meeting with industry associations on overseas promotions, Ministry of Tourism has proposed in that they wanted to declare 2022-23 as Visit India year, starting from August 15, 2022. “However, we suggested that it should start from January 1, 2022. If they want Visit India Year to be successful and meaningful, they should provide some incentives to the tour operators or tourists who want to visit India. Otherwise, it’d remain just a slogan,” he suggested.