Category Archives: Associations

Mahendra Vakharia, Managing Director, Pathfinders Holidays has been elected as the President while Himanshu Patil, Director, Kesari Tours is the new Vice President for Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI). The other office bearers are Chitra Bhatia, Director, Aashman Air Travels who is the new General Secretary; Gurdeep Gujaral, Founder Director, Gujral Tours and Travels continues to hold the post of Joint Secretary while Siddharth Khanna, Partner, Khanna Enterprises is the new Treasurer. The Executive Committee members include Ankush Nijhawan, Managing Director, Nijhawan Group, Sujit Nair, Founder and Group Managing Director, Akquasun Group, Riaz Munshi, Managing Director, N. Chirag Travels, Shravan Bhalla, Chief Executive Officer, High Flyer, Adl Karim Director, Creative Tours and Travels (India) and Rajeev Sabharwal, CEO, Gaurav Travels. Vakharia says, “I feel extremely happy, privileged and honoured to be trusted with this position. Increasing our membership across India remains to be our top priority.” The state chairmen will be announced in due course of time, informs Vakharia.

The 47th Annual General Meeting of Pacific Asia Travel Association, India Chapter and Election to the Executive Committee PATA India Chapter, for the term 2017-19, will be held on December 19, 2017 at The Claridges, New Delhi. The primary agenda of the meeting is to elect members of the Executive Committee for the period 2017-19, besides confirming minutes of the 46th AGM of PATA India Chapter, approve and adopt the audited accounts for the year 2016-17, appoint the auditors and fix their remuneration for 2017-18.

The Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) launched its Andhra Pradesh Chapter during its 8th Annual Convention held in Visakhapatnam recently. Vijay Mohan, Member, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority, Government of Andhra Pradesh and President of Tour and Travels Association of Andhra Pradesh, will head this chapter for the association. Rajat Sawhney, Vice President, ADTOI, said, “The membership of the association is predominantly based in North, East and West India. In the South, barring Kerala we had less presence in states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The launch of the Andhra Pradesh State Chapter of ADTOI is a maiden attempt to set its imprints and penetrate the southern parts of India for the larger benefits of the domestic tour operators.” Commenting on the targets of this newly formed state chapter of ADTOI, Mohan said “The association of tour operators of Andhra Pradesh has about 187 members. We received 12 registrations just in 24 hours. We would work towards increasing membership and are looking at approximately 50 members at the end of this financial year.”

The 8th Annual Convention of Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) held at Hotel Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach received over 300 delegates from across the country. The convention was inaugurated by Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh; Bhuma Akhila Priya, Minister of Tourism, Telugu Language and Culture, Government of Andhra Pradesh and Mukesh Kumar Meena, Secretary-Tourism and Culture, Government of Andhra Pradesh along with other dignitaries from the state and ADTOI. The event initially saw over 340 registrations but had to refuse many due to logistical concerns. Naidu commented, “I really appreciate the efforts of the domestic tour operators in promoting their country by bringing to forefront the unexplored jewels of India.” Priya added, “Vizag is the City of Jewels, the crown of the sunrise state—Andhra Pradesh. We are planning to make the state a favourable tourist destination by not only promotional activities but also by creating adequate infrastructure.” P.P. Khanna, President of ADTOI, shared, “The idea to hold our convention in Vizag was to identify newer destinations that domestic tour operators can add to their portfolio and promote the state of Andhra Pradesh with its wide variety of offerings from beach tourism, agritourism, ecotourism, MICE, weddings, spiritual tourism and the Buddhist circuit.”

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.

PATA India will be conducting its 6th Update & Outlook Meeting on November 15, 2017 at The Claridges, New Delhi. Tourism Secretary Rashmi Verma will preside over the meeting. G. K. Chaukiyal, Executive Director, Airport Authority of India, will also give an overview of Regional Connectivity Scheme, near and medium term connectivity plan and how it will support tourism. One of the objectives of this initiative is to take aviation to the hinterland and to the doorstep of the common man. This will contribute towards developing tourism infrastructure and open new vistas for tourism as well.

According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, destinations worldwide welcomed 901 million international tourist arrivals between January and August 2017, recording 56 million more than in the same period of 2016. This corresponds to a robust 7 per cent increase, well above the growth of previous years. With upbeat prospects for the remaining months of the year, 2017 is set to be the eighth consecutive year of continued solid growth for international tourism. South Asia (+10 per cent) led growth in Asia and the Pacific (+6 per cent), followed by South-East Asia (+8 per cent) and Oceania (+7 per cent). By UNWTO regions, growth was strongest in Africa (+9 per cent) and Europe (+8 per cent), followed by Asia and the Pacific (+6 per cent), according to a survey by experts for the UNWTO Confidence Index, who evaluated the May-August period very positively. “Tourism is a major economic engine and employment generator, contributing to the improvement of livelihoods of millions of people around the world,” stated UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai. Among the top 10 markets, international tourism expenditure grew fastest in China (+19 per cent), the Republic of Korea (+12 per cent), the United States (+8 per cent) and Canada (+7 per cent).

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has announced that it will conduct its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on November 28, 2017, in Mumbai at The Lalit Mumbai. This will be followed by its national elections at around 11:30 am at the same venue. Revealing this is Sunil R. Kumar, President, TAAI, who adds, “Currently we are busy with all the statutory processes for the AGM such as reports, financial statements as well as arranging for the election process.” When asked about the annual convention that has been delayed due to various reasons, Kumar says, “We will definitely have our convention, which will happen after our AGM, possibly in January or February 2018. We did the same thing last year as well when we held our annual convention in Abu Dhabi after our AGM.”

Global passenger traffic demand in September rose 5.7 per cent compared to the same month in 2016, according to IATA’s global passenger traffic results. This was the slowest year-on-year increase since February. Domestic passenger traffic demand climbed 4.2 per cent in September compared to September 2016. India and China continued to lead all markets with double-digit annual traffic increases while elsewhere, results were mixed. Capacity rose 4.7 per cent and load factor slipped 0.4 percentage points to 82.2 per cent. “September’s growth in passenger demand was healthy, notwithstanding the impact of extreme weather events on the Americas,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. “Global economic conditions support rising passenger demand, but with higher cost inputs, the demand stimulation from lower fares has waned, suggesting a moderating trend in traffic growth.” International RPKs climbed 6.5 per cent with airlines in all regions recording growth compared to 2016. Total capacity climbed 5.6 per cent, and load factor rose 0.7 percentage points to 81.3 per cent. Asia-Pacific airlines’ traffic rose 8.7 per cent in September compared to the year-ago period, the strongest growth among regions. Capacity increased 7.8 per cent, and load factor climbed 0.6 percentage points to 78.3 per cent. A solid regional economic backdrop, helped by robust growth in China, is supporting passenger demand within the region.

Under the ‘Adopt a Heritage Scheme’ of Ministry of Tourism, seven shortlisted companies or Monument Mitras have been given the Letter of Intent for the adoption of 14 monuments, which were presented at the closing ceremony of the three-week-long ‘Paryatan Parv’ at Rajpath Lawns, New Delhi. K.J. Alphons, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, Government of India, said, “We had over 1200 events across numerous sites in the country, across schools, monuments etc. In the past 20 days, we have turned India into a land of celebrations with the help of our 18 sister ministries and thanks to the overwhelming participation of our own people.” SBI Foundation was shortlisted for the adoption of Jantar Mantar, Delhi, while TK International Limited would be adopting Sun Temple, Konark; Raja Rani Temple, Bhubaneshwar, and Ratnagiri Monuments, Jajpur, Odisha. On the other hand, Yatra Online Pvt. Limited would adopt Hampi, Karnataka; Leh Palace, Jammu & Kashmir; Qutub Minar, Delhi and Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra. Travel Corporation of India Ltd. was shortlisted for the adoption of Mattancherry Palace Museum, Kochi, and Safdarjung Tomb, Delhi. Adventure Tour Operator Association of India (ATOAI) will be adopting Gangotri Temple Area and Trail to Gaumukh, as well as Mt. StokKangri, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir. Special Holidays Travel Pvt. Ltd., along with Rotary Club of Delhi was shortlisted for the adoption of Agrasen ki Baoli, Delhi, and NBCC would adopt Purana Quila, Delhi. Arun Jaitley, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister, Government of India, also the Chief Guest presented certificates to the ‘Best Participating Central Government Ministry and Best Participating State Government’ at the closing ceremony. The grand spectacle included cultural performances by different state troops, craft mela showing diverse handicrafts …