Category Archives: Associations

Rahul Lall has been appointed as the Secretary General for FHRAI (Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India). He completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Hotel Management from The Oberoi School of Hotel Management, New Delhi. He is from the Management Trainee batch(1985-1987). Prior to this he did his Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Delhi University. He is an alumnus of St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Kolkata and Don Bosco School, Chennai. He brings with him over 30 years of progressive hotel experience spanning renowned hotel chains across the country. He has extensive operational, administrative and bottom line management experience. Coupled with a strong leadership and financial skill sets, he is ideally suited to take on the responsibilities of running the day-to-day administration of FHRAI. A Professional hotelier, he has worked with the Oberoi Group of Hotels for 15 years and thereafter with Sarovar Hotels. He has been in various capacities as General Manager, Area Director and Vice President Operations. He has over seen pre-opening and successful openings of various hotels. Prior to joining FHRAI he held the role of the Vice President Operations for the Dangayach Group of Hotels (Marriott Jaipur, Ramada Jaipur, Chomu Palace Hotel Jaipur, Four Points by Sheraton Agra and Park Plaza, Jaipur).

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has elected Christopher J. Nassetta, President, and CEO of Hilton, as the Council’s next Chairman. Nassetta joined Hilton in 2007 and since assuming the role of CEO he has brought Hilton hospitality to 27 new countries by adding 2,200 hotels to a network of more than 5,000 properties in 103 countries and territories. He has been a Member of WTTC’s Executive Committee since 2011 and Vice Chairman for North America since 2014. Nassetta will take over from current Chairman, Gerald Lawless, following the Council’s Annual General Meeting, which will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 17, 2018. Lawless said, “It has been an honour to serve as Chairman of WTTC for the past two years and I am delighted to be handing over to Chris Nassetta to steer the Council into its next phase of development. I am sure that he and Gloria Guevara, WTTC’s President and CEO, will form a strong team to advocate for the economic and social benefits of Travel & Tourism.” Nassetta said, “I would like to thank Gerald for his tireless advocacy on behalf of the global travel and tourism industry. I am also honoured to accept the role as WTTC Chair at a time of amazing opportunity and growth. I believe the Council can play an important role to bring governments and the industry together to deliver smart plans that support both security and international travel. I also believe that the unique scale and reach of WTTC members can be used to tackle significant global issues, including climate change and global youth unemployment.”

The World Economic Forum’s white paper on India’s tourism industry outlines the country’s $20 billion tourism opportunity that lies untapped. One of its recommendations is the formation of a tourism board. According to the White Paper titled ‘Incredible India 2.0 India’s $20 Billion Tourism Opportunity,’ a proposal to create a tourism board is put forward. It says, ‘India has more than 50 active foreign tourism boards, yet the country does not have its own tourism board. While it has a number of industry associations and state-level bodies, no public-private organisation represents the industry, and these bodies work independently to drive forward their own agenda. The industry is fragmented and hindered by poor coordination between the state and central government as well as within the central government itself. No single ministry is responsible for all the policies affecting the aviation, travel and tourism industry. The Ministries of Civil Aviation, Tourism, Home Affairs, Culture, and Road Transport and Highways, among others, have all been actively involved in the industry’s policies.’ The paper released in September this year goes on to add that this gap must be filled by bringing the public and private sectors together under an empowered and proactive body. ‘To fuel its success, the board would consider the structure, objectives and best practices implemented in other countries, keeping in mind India’s strengths and limitations.’ Speaking on the scope of implementation that this White Paper has, Tiffany Misrahi, Community Lead, Aviation, Travel & Tourism Industries, World Economic Forum, says, “The Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju, as well as Minister of State Jayant Sinha, along with the Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, have been actively involved in …

The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) has elected its new team with Nakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC, as the Chairman, who was nominated by Hotel Association of India (HAI). The Vice Chairman is Akshay Kumar, CEO, Mercury Himalayan Explorations, who was nominated by Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI). The association also created an additional position of Vice Chairman, for which they have elected Sunil Kumar R, CEO, Travel World, who was nominated by Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI).  Subhash Goyal, Chairman, STIC Travel Group, who was nominated by Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), is the new Honorary Secretary, while Garish Oberoi, Partner, Hotel Uberoi Anand, has been declared as the Treasurer. Aashish Gupta continues as the Consulting CEO of FAITH. All the above positions have been unanimously elected by the FAITH Board.

The Travel Trade Association of Uttar Pradesh (TTAUP), a Lucknow based, local travel trade association organised its first Travel Trade Mart (TTM) 2017 in Lucknow. As many as 30 exhibitors showcased their products to the travel agents and tour operators of UP. These exhibitors encompassed all segments of tourism and hospitality like cruises, tourism boards, destination management companies, hotels, airlines etc. The show was attended by over 200 travel agents and tour operators from various cities in Uttar Pradesh like Lucknow, Kanpur, Bijnor, Allahabad, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Agra, Mau, Muradabad etc. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Minister of Women Welfare, Family Welfare, Maternity and Child Welfare and Tourism, Government of Uttar Pradesh, inaugurated the mart. Vivek Pandey, President, TTAUP, says, “This is the first time we have hosted such a show. We felt that many times it was not possible for the trade in UP to attend shows in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and other metro cities and unfortunately not many shows come to UP. The purpose is to offer a platform to the agents of the state to gather product knowledge, information and be connected to the various suppliers directly rather than route it through bigger cities. This would allow us to contain business of UP within UP and grow the tourism industry in the state. This year was an experiment and it turned out extremely well. Next year we will increase the scale and scope of this show manifolds.”

Post its successful convention in Ras Al Khaimah, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) is gearing up for their national election on November 27, 2017. Making this annoucement, Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, OTOAI, said, “We are currently giving finishing touches to tasks and projects. We had previously undertaken to give the new committee a strong base in their transitory period to take our hard work even further during their tenure.” The elections will be conducted for 11 Executive Committee members who will further elect the new working committee.

The Executive Board of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has extended the contract of Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mario Hardy for a period of three years commencing January 1, 2018. Dr Hardy said, “I am delighted to have an opportunity to work with our outstanding management team in building upon the PATA successes of the past three years. We still face many challenges as a membership organisation but our determination to add value to the many benefits of PATA membership is being recognised in the public and private sectors. We shall continue with our primary mission of promoting sustainable and responsibly tourism development throughout the world as we encourage travel to, from and within the Asia Pacific region.” Mario Hardy joined PATA in 2012 as Chief Operating Officer and was appointed Chief Executive Officer on November 1, 2014. He is a past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PATA Foundation, a non-profit organisation with a focus on the protection of the environment, the conservation of culture and heritage, and support for education. He worked for 26 years in specialised aviation businesses with a focus upon data analytics and technology, occupying leadership roles in Montreal, Vancouver, London, Beijing and Singapore. In 2016, he received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Capilano University for his philanthropic work in Cambodia where he helped develop a school for underprivileged children and for his support in the development of a Community Based Tourism (CBT) project in Vietnam. In January 2017 Mario Hardy graduated from the Singularity University, Executive Program on the subject of Exponential Technologies. PATA Chairperson Sarah Mathews said, “I am delighted that Mario has agreed to continue as our Chief …

With a leading role in the recent approval of the Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics by the UNWTO General Assembly held in Chengdu, China, the composition of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics has been renewed. In order to continue advancing the important work of this subsidiary organ of the UNWTO General Assembly, the mandate of the outgoing members of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics was renewed until 2021, with Pascal Lamy continuing to chair the Committee. Joining the four Members whose mandate was set to end in 2019 – Yoshiaki Hompo (Japan), Fiona Jeffery (UK), Tanja Mihalic (Slovenia) and Eugenio Yunis (Chile) – will be Gede Ardika (Indonesia), Jean Marc Mignon (International Social Tourism Organization) and Ron Oswald (The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations) as Committee Members, and Hiran Cooray (Sri Lanka), Suzy Hatough (Jordan) and Günnur Diker (Turkey) as Alternates. The only new member joining the World Committee on Tourism Ethics four a four-year term starting 17 September 2017 is Rosette Chantal Rugamba, Founder and Managing Director of Songa Africa and Amakoro Lodge (Rwanda).

Chander Mansharamani has been re-elected as Vice Chairman of India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) for another two-year term. Amaresh Tiwari and Girish Kwatra will also continue on their respective posts of Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer. This was declared during the association’s 30th Annual General Meeting and Elections for the Governing Board held at The Ashok in New Delhi which was also attended by Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Chairman, ICPB. New appointments were made in the Hotel, Tour Operator and Congress / Convention Centres categories. The two new appointments in the hotel category were Hemant Mediratta and Saurabh Bhargava & Abinash Manghani (due to a tie for the second post). Gunjan Suri and Naveen Chibber took up the two new posts in the travel agency category while Ajay Vinayak and Anuj Wadhwa took the two posts in tour operator category. The post for the Congress / Convention Centres went to Sudeep Sarcar. Talking about the key priorities for the bureau now, Chander Mansharamani, Vice Chairman, ICPB, said, “the government has been looking at us as the frontal organisation for marketing India as a convention destination. Keeping that in mind, we are completely invested to take things to the next level. Currently we have outlined three core areas to focus on; first is market creation wherein creating our chapters and bidding of international conferences will be a part of that. Market creation will involve conducting roadshows both in India and international markets. The second priority is Visa, lobbying and making the entire process easier to get a visa for delegates attending conferences in India and thirdly we want to sensitise the central and state governments on the …

The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has launched a travellers’ competition ahead of World Tourism Day in order to promote responsible travel. The initiative is part of the ‘Travel.Enjoy.Respect’ campaign taking place within the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017. The winner of the competition will be awarded a one-month trip across the world visiting sustainable tourism initiatives. The winner’s across the world journey will be supported by Explore WorldWide, an adventure travel group offering a wide range of activities and experiences with a commitment to responsible travel. Destinations including Colombia, Germany, Mexico, Ras al-Khaimah and the Léman region in Switzerland have offered to host the winner and help them discover responsible and sustainable tourism practices. “Every action counts and travellers have a strong role to play in building a more sustainable tourism sector. Imagine the impact of one small action multiplied by millions,” said Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of UNWTO. “We want to inspire all travellers to be the change they want to see in the world.”