Tag Archives: TAAI

Travel Agents Association of India – Northern Region (TAAI-NR) recently held a meeting for its members at ITC Maurya, New Delhi. Gaurav Dogra, Secretary, TAAI-NR, said, “We discussed various queries of the members and updated them about TAAI Connect. TAAI Connect will help empower the members to have their own websites and mobile apps for better customer services.” Anil Khaitan, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry was also present to share the highlights of MoU signed between TAAI and PHD Chamber of Commerce, and how they would help to overcome the obstacles faced by TAAI members in their respective business.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has declared 2018 as the ‘Visit Kashmir’ year. Speaking at the 2018 TAAI Convention in Srinagar, Sunil Kumar, President, TAAI, made the announcement before delegates. He said that as part of this initiative, the association would be aggressively promoting J&K to its diverse range of clients. Its website and letter heads would also carry a logo of ‘Visit Kashmir’ year all round the year.

TAAI’s limited edition convention in Srinagar has gathered keen interest from the trade. “Within 24 hours of opening registration, we received over 100 forms. Registrations for the TAAI Convention opened on February 19 and more than 200 delegates have already confirmed their participation. The hotels are in huge demand,” confirms Sunil R. Kumar, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI). Set to be held from March 27-30, 2018, the TAAI Convention is being organised in association with the Ministry of Tourism, Jammu & Kashmir with a view to promote a more visible J&K and its outstanding attributes that extensively support tourism and culture.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Chapter has signed an MoU with Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh to establish a cooperative relationship between the two that will help students of tourism. The MoU is with respect to offering a Bachelor in Vocational (B.VOC) Tourism & Hospitality Course, a three-year degree course. It will be conducted at Dr. RML Avadh University. Sunil B. Satyawakta, Chairman, TAAI – Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand Chapter, says, “This MOU sets the framework for the cooperative relationship between the parties to enhance quality of education in courses and designing the curriculum to make it industry relevant. This is the third MoU signed by the chapter with education institutes in the last two years. The others were with Lucknow University and Banaras Hindu University.”

Calling it an unfortunate decision, Rajan Sehgal, Member—Managing Committee, TAAI, says, “The travel agents drive bulk business for the airlines and cutting commission is like cutting the long arm of the airline. It is very unfortunate that Jet Airways has announced to slash the basic commission given to travel agents. We will be meeting representatives from Jet Airways next week to have detailed discussions on the matter. We have taken the opinion of our members and will put the issues forward.”

Opposing the move, Jyoti Mayal, Honorary Secretary General, TAAI, said, “We, as TAAI, are against the move that Jet Airways has slashed the one per cent commission for the agents effective January 1, 2018. Regarding the transaction fee, we are requesting them that they fix the rate of this transaction fee between 3.5-5 per cent for everyone and also maintain web parity so that there is a level playing field for everyone. We are meeting Jet Airways in a couple of days to take this further and also discuss procedural changes related to the same and are hopeful that Jet airways will understand our thought process and support our fraternity.”

From being a Member of the Managing Committee in the previous term to now the National Treasurer of TAAI, Imtiaz Qureshi’s journey with the association has been inspitational. Overwhelmed with the results, Qureshi, who is the Managing Director of Viceroy Travels, said, “We are very focused on our work and we will take on whatever unfinished tasks are there for the travel fraternity. It’s a great responsibility that has been given to us. We will try and do our best in whatever we can.”

Jyoti Mayal, Director of New Airways Travels (Delhi) who was previously a Member of the Managing Committee at TAAI, has been elected as the Honorary Secretary General of the association. Mayal says, “There are a lot of changes that need to be done at TAAI. To start with, we need to change the memorandum which has been long pending and that is the first thing that I am going to do. I was with the airline council earlier, and I need to continue that job because our main concern is how the airlines are dealing with us on GST.”

Sunil R. Kumar has been re-elected as the president of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) for the term 2017-19. While Sanjay Narula has been named the vice president, Jyoti Mayal will be the honorary Secretary General. Imitiaz Qureshi has been elected to the post of National Treasurer. “I have been elected for the second term and therefore, the responsibility is greater,” Kumar said, adding, “members have expectations, so we need to work towards getting airlines closer to meeting their expectations. It’s a tough challenge, but I believe we are tougher.”  The announcement was made during the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on November 28, at The Lalit Mumbai. The seven Members elected to the Managing Committee are: Anoop Kanuga, Gurmeet Singh Vij, Rajan Sehgal, S. Saravanan, Bhagwan Ramnani, Anil Kumar, and Devaki Thiyagarajan.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has revealed its final nominee list for its upcoming national elections. Running for presidency are three members – Harmandeep Singh Anand, Marzban Antia, present Vice President of TAAI, and current national president Sunil Kumar. Two nominees for the Vice President position are Jay Bhatia who is currently serving as TAAI’s Honorary Treasurer and Tourism Council Chairman and Sanjay Narula. Running for the position of Honorary Secretary General are two members: Lokesh Bettaiah, current Secretary General, and Jyoti Mayal, Member of the Managing Committee. Two members have signed up as nominees for the position of Honorary Treasurer. One of them is Shreeram Patel, current Co-Chairman, Airline Council, TAAI, and Imtiaz Qureshi, who is a MC member. The national elections will be held on November 28, 2017 at The Lalit Mumbai.