Category Archives: Associations

With its theme “Together for a Better Tomorrow”, SIHRA Convention is taking place from October 4-5, with participation from nearly 600 delegates. The convention looks at connecting all the south Indian states and brings about varied opportunities in exploring the hospitality and tourism fraternity. The event is expected to be a perfect mix of technology, emerging trends in the beverage and food industry, innovations in hotel projects and women leadership in the hospitality industry, among others. It is being supported by the departments of tourism, governments of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry.  The event will be inaugurated by Vellamandi N Natarajan, Minister for Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu, in the presence of SP Velumani, Minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development; KA Sengottaiyan, Minister for School Education; Shri Sellur K Raju, Minister for Co-operation; RB Udhaya Kumar, Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management and Dindigul C Sreenivasan, Minister for Forests Department. Edappadi K Palaniswami, Chief Minister, Tamil Nadu, said,  The state continues to hold the leading position in tourist arrivals, both domestic and international for the fourth year in a row. I am sure that SIHRA, which has over 1100 hotel and restaurant members playing a major role in providing comprehensive logistic support to all our tourists.” S K Hari Arumugam, Chairman, Organising Committee, SIHRA Convention 2018, said, “It is our objective that each and every fellow member is an integral part of this movement, empowered with a forum to voice concerns and have problems redressed and, to facilitate every member in  enabling them to take advantage of this event and enterprise.”

The annual convention of Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA) is set to be held in Taipei, Taiwan from January 20-25, 2019, as stated by Gajesh Girdhar, National Coordinator, NIMA. A destination showcase is also slated to be held in 2019 but the destination is yet to be finalised. NIMA, a four-and-half-years old association, is a network of MiCE agents. “We currently have 136 numbers with a majority from Tier-II, III cities. With zero membership fee, we have always focused on tapping new markets. For instance, in Spain, everybody has their eyes on Barcelona, Madrid and Apjiza, while we tap the Catalonia region where we had our first convention in 2016. So, now people are aware of Catalonia and all the members are promoting it,” explained Girdhar.  

India is ranked as the world’s third most powerful country for travel and tourism, according to World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) new T&T Power and Performance Report. China, the USA and India take the top three spots in the new Power Ranking which ranks the performance of 185 countries combining growth over the past seven years in tourism’s contribution to GDP, international visitor spend, domestic tourism spend and capital investment. Gloria Guevara, President and CEO, WTTC commented, “World Tourism Day is the global celebration of a sector that contributes 10.4 per cent of the world’s GDP and generates 313 million jobs. WTTC’s new report outlines power and performance rankings which showcase countries that have been most successful in growing their tourism sectors across the board.”

India has been chosen as the host country to celebrate World Tourism Day 2019 on the theme ‘Tourism and Jobs: A better future for all’. Celebrated every September 27 around the world, the purpose of World Tourism Day is to foster awareness among the international community on the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. The event seeks to address global challenges outlined in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and highlight the contribution the tourism sector can make in reaching these goals. Every year, UNWTO invites people of all ages and backgrounds to hold and take part in WTD celebrations in their respective countries or holiday destinations. Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General, UNWTO issues a message each year to mark the occasion and chairs the official celebrations.  

The Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) held its 6th Annual General Meeting in New Delhi for its members. Welcoming the members, Mahendra Vakharia, President, OTOAI said, “We are working towards increasing our membership and expanding our base in Tier-II and III markets. After our successful annual convention in Cape Town, South Africa, we are now looking at organising training and educational programmes for frontline staff of our members. We also plan to conduct destination workshops for them in different cities.”

The FHRAI Annual Convention is underway at Ramada Lucknow Hotel & Convention Centre on the theme ‘Spiritual and Wellness Tourism’. The Chief Guest of the event was Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh. Guests of Honour include Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Minister, Tourism, Govt of UP and Ashok Chandra Panda, Minister, Tourism, Govt of Odisha. ‘Look Within India’ has been incorporated as the tagline in the convention logo. It translates the thought of looking within the land of the world’s spiritual and wellness capital, India. The exhibition will feature the latest products and technologies in hospitality. Also, an expo to highlight ‘one district one product’ of Uttar Pradesh will be a special focus of the event.

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) is ready to host its next annual convention in Abu Dhabi this year. With the theme ‘Innovate – Transform – Disrupt: Redefining the offline travel world’, the convention will be held from September 25-27, 2018 at Emirates Palace. Business Sessions have been planned keeping in mind the fast-changing world of travel, with disruption becoming a way of life. Bharat Shah, Managing Committee Member, will be chairing this year’s Convention. About 600 members from across the chapters have registered for this event. There will be a World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) meeting before the three-day convention begins in Abu Dhabi. The speakers at the convention will include two motivational speakers as well as some international speakers.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has announced its 65th annual convention in the Kunming city of Yunnan province of China from November 27-29. In association with the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Commission (YPTDC), the maiden TAAI Convention in China will take place at InterContinental Kunming. On the occasion, Sunil Kumar, President, TAAI said, “This is an initiative to promote stronger tourism prospects in Yunnan. TAAI has been working towards a stronger connect with China.” The theme of the convention will revolve around strengthening friendship and tourism relationship with China.

The maiden India Tourism Mart (ITM) is being organised from September 16-18, 2018 by the Ministry of Tourism, along with Federation of Associations in Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) at The Ashok, New Delhi. The mart will be formally inaugurated by Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Railways, Coal and Corporate Affairs, in the presence of KJ Alphons, Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Tourism. The mart is being attended by 250 delegates from 60 countries, who also attended the Paryatan Parv at the Rajpath Lawns. The buyers were welcomed at The Ashok by Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH, who met with all the presidents of associations under the FAITH umbrella, as well as the exhibitors. ITM will give an opportunity to the buyers to see world-class tourism facilities available in the country such as airports, hotels, tourist destinations, MiCE facilities, potential in the field of adventure tourism and other niche products.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) is set to organise its annual convention this year in Kunming, Yunnan, China by November end. The association held its convention in Srinagar in March this year. The step comes in the wake of TAAI’s focus to bond with China, whose outbound has been the largest in recent years. Further, India’s outbound to China is also extremely significant and continues to grow. The final dates of the convention will be announced soon. TAAI and Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Commission (YPTDC) are joining hands to deliver a great partnership that would benefit tourism between the two large and formidable nations of the world. On the invitation of Yunnan, TAAI team visited the beautiful city of Kunming and found it a great venue to organise this Convention, TAAI said.