Category Archives: Associations

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has signed an agreement with the Tourist Guides’ Federation of India to increase the guide fee by approximately 10 per cent effective from October 1. The new rates will be valid for a period of two years till September 30, 2021. Sharing more information, Rajeev Mehra, Vice President, IATO said that the agreement has been signed keeping in view the interest of certified tour guides across the country. “IATO President, Pronab Sarkar and TGFI President, Ajay Singh have signed an agreement to hike the fee. The fee and allowances agreed upon should be paid in full and are not negotiable. There will ne no extra charges in addition to the rates agreed upon for escorting groups.” It was also decided that a suitable imprest amount may be given to the guides before the commenecement of their agreement with the mutual understanding in case o outstation trips involving minimum one overnight. Usage and guides and fee structure shall be as per the laid down policies of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

After the success of its inaugural Tourism MasterClass last month, PATA India Chapter is now all set to organise its next educational workshop, an exclusive Business Management MasterClass titled, ‘Entrepreneurial Leadership-The Buck Stops Here’ on July 3 in Delhi. This MasterClass is targeted to attract owners/business leaders and aims to add to their knowledge and business management skills. The session will be conducted by Ashutosh Garg, mentoring expert from the corporate world, who has been a Corporate Leader at ITC on the one hand and a very successful and Professional Entrepreneur on the other, having established the 2nd largest pharmaceutical retail chain in India, Guardian Pharmacy. He has also worked in leadership positions at Lockheed Martin and Hughes. Recognised as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum and as an active member of Young Presidents Organisation, he brings rich experience both in running businesses in India and overseas. Registration are open now and the last date of enrolling is June 25, 2019. Limited seats on first come, first serve basis.

The Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI), along with the Govt. of Gujarat is set to organise its next convention in Ahmedabad, Gujarat from August 16-18, 2019, announced PP Khanna, President, ADTOI at their General House Meeting and GST session held at Hotel Samrat in New Delhi. PP khanna will be the Convention Chairman, while Anil Rajput and Sanjay Saxena will be the Co-Chairman. The venue of the convention has not been decided. Right now, committees are being made for the convention.

The majority of India’s inbound tourists (60.6 per cent) are from long haul source markets, that is, greater than six hours’ flights, according to a latest report by CAPA India research and analysis. Most of the world’s largest tourism destinations receive the largest proportion of their visitors from short and medium haul markets. This distance puts India at a strategic disadvantage in terms of cost and ease of access and increases the number of potential destinations it competes with that lie within a similar arc. It is relatively less well-placed to attract travellers planning short, spontaneous breaks.

At the recently concluded PATA Annual Summit & Board Meeting held at Cebu, Philippines, Yogendra Tripathi, Tourism Secretary, Government of India, Ravneet Kaur, Chairman & Managing Director, ITDC and Jatinder Taneja, Managing Director, Travel Spirit International, were appointed to the PATA Board. Yogendra Tripathi & Ravneet Kaur have also been appointed to the Government/Destination Committee of PATA. Vikram Madhok is already been a member of the Board since 2018. Thomas Thottathil, Vice President Cox & Kings India and SanJeet, Director DDP Publications are members of the board as Industry Council Proxy. The PATA Industry Council now has the five members from India including • Vikram Madhok, MD Abercrombie & Kent India • Jatinder Taneja, MD, Travel Spirit International Pvt Ltd • SanJeet, Director DDP Publications Pvt Ltd • Thomas C Thottathil, Vice President Cox & Kings Ltd. • Riyaz U.C, MD Spiceland Holidays

The latest issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer from the World Tourism Organisation shows that international tourism continued to grow over the first quarter of 2019. Though at a slower rate when compared with the last two years, the 4% increase registered in early 2019 is a very positive sign. The Middle East (+8%) and Asia Pacific (+6%) experienced the highest increase in international arrivals. Numbers in both Europe and Africa were up by 4%, and in the Americas growth was recorded at 3%. “International tourism continues to perform strongly worldwide fuelled by a positive economy, increased air capacity and visa facilitation”, says UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili. “Growth in arrivals is easing slightly after two years of exceptional results, but the sector continues to outpace the global rate of economic growth.” Europe, the world’s largest tourism region, reported solid growth (+4%), led by destinations in Southern and Mediterranean Europe and Central and Eastern Europe (both +5%). Growth in Africa was driven by the ongoing recovery in North Africa (+11%). In the Americas, the Caribbean (+17%) rebounded strongly after weak results in 2018, following the impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria in late 2017. In Asia and the Pacific, results for the first three months showed a 6% increase led by North-East Asia (+9%) and a very solid performance from the Chinese market. “With this growth comes greater responsibility for translating it into better jobs and better lives”, Pololikashvili stresses. “We need to continue investing in innovation, digital transformation and education so that we can harness the many benefits tourism can bring while at the same time mitigating its impact on the environment and society with a better management of …

The total contribution of travel and tourism to Indian GDP is forecasted to increase by 4.97 per cent per annum to $280.5 billion by 2026, according to a recent report commissioned by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Deloitte. The value of the restaurant and hotel industry is expected to continue to grow at a rate (averaging 8.1% annually throughout the forecast period), as India seeks to develop and diversify the types of tourists served. Its value will increase to $39.8 billion by 2020. While the hotel and restaurant industry contributes less than 1.5% of GDP–a share that will be maintained in the next five years—this merely attests to the diversity and strength of other industries, such as IT, mining and infrastructure, which remain very important to the economy.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) from tourism stood at USD 28.9 billion (INR 1.97 trillion) in 2018, which accounted for 5.4 per cent of the total exports, according to a latest FICCI-Yes Bank report. The contribution is further expected to increase by 6.8 per cent in 2019 and rise by 5.6 per cent p a by 2029 to reach INR 3.63 trillion. However, India ranks 14th in terms of absolute FEE and 122nd in terms of share of visitor exports in total export. India is also the third largest globally in terms of investment in travel & tourism with an investment of USD 45.7 billion (INR 3.12 trillion) in 2018, accounting for 5.9 per cent of national investment. This is expected to increase by 9.4 per cent in 2019 to INR 3.42 trillion, and further rise by 7.4 per cent p a till 2029, taking the share in national investment to 6.1 per cent.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has declared that India’s domestic market rose just 3.1 per cent in March, down from February’s growth of 8.3 per cent.  These figures were part of the global passenger traffic results for March 2019, released by IATA, which shows that demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs) rose 3.1 per cent, compared to the same month a year ago, which was the slowest pace for any month in nine years. The numbers are way against the scorching five-year average growth pace of close to 20 per cent per month.The slowdown comes in line with the reduction in flight operations of Jet Airways, which stopped flying in April, as well as disruptions at Mumbai airport owing to construction.

HRANI’s next conclave has been scheduled for Monday, May 27, 2019 in Ludhiana, Punjab at 1800 hrs onwards. The conclave will be inaugurated by Chief Guest, Pawan Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The conclaves are planned and organised by HRANI in all nine state of North India on rotation basis. The last conclave held in Uttar Pradesh’s capital, Lucknow, themed on the Environmental Concerns of Hospitality Industry witnessed participation in good numbers. The sessions captivated the audience and a Guide for Waste Management in Hospitality Industry was launched during the last HRANI Conclave. This time, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) in collaboration with Hotel & Restaurant Association of Punjab (HRAP) has planned to introduce ‘HRANI Awards – Ludhiana Edition’. The awards have been instituted by HRANI to encourage industry professionals and recognize excellence, in the hospitality industry. More information can be found on HRANI’s website about the awards. The session on Hygiene Rating is planned with the aim to sensitize hoteliers and restaurateurs about the various benefits of the rating system. Apart from that, knowledge drive presentation on re-purposing used cooking oil into bio-diesel and FSSAI’s Hygiene Rating initiative are planned in the interest of the hotel and restaurant members. Start-ups such as BioD have initiated the repurposing of used cooking oil with the objective to create sustainable solutions for a greener environment and a healthier society. The knowledge will highlight the harmful effects of consuming cooking oil which is used and re-used.