Category Archives: Associations

Pradeep Shetty, President, Hotel And Restaurant Association (Western India) – HRAWI & Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), said, “At present, Lakshadweep operates only one or two flights weekly with limited seat capacity using ATRs. There’s an urgent need to augment flight frequency and upgrade airport facilities, including larger runways for accommodating bigger aircraft. Simultaneously, augmenting room inventory is crucial.” 

Amidst ongoing controversial remarks by Maldive’s politician, a lot of agents and companies are cancelling Maldives bookings. Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI, said, “Approximately, Maldives faces 40%-50% cancellation by Indian trade. Due to this comment, there is uproar in social media, impacting sentiment of people in India. Some outbound operators have also cancelled their bookings”.

Following the annual convention held in Nairobi, OTOAI has received 15-30 new applications for enrollment. The association is also stringent about accepting the applications and is not approving every application that comes in. “We are now working towards capitalizing on the convention,” said Riaz Munshi, President of OTOAI.

FAITH has appointed Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and CEO of IHCL, as its Chairman with immediate effect. He takes over from Nakul Anand who since his retirement will no longer be a member of HAI Executive Committee, thereby relinquishing his position at FAITH. In his new role, Chhatwal will ensure a smooth continuation of FAITH’s initiatives and objectives.

TAFI has urged the PM to show more support to the travel agent channel. It stated, ‘The tourism sector can surely become more robust if all cogs in the wheel of tourism trade do well and work in tandem. The travel agent channel has been largely ignored and remains an area where your support would go a long way.’

The research by WTTC highlights the consistent, steady growth of young people employed directly by the sector over the last decade, with a total of 39.7 million jobs supported by Travel & Tourism around the world in 2019, up 28% since 2010. However, this figure was significantly impacted by COVID-19, where youth employment dropped 27%.

Sharing his expectations from 2024, Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, said, “We hope that in the new year, India will also look at liberalizing its visa regime so that foreign tourists will be able to travel to India more freely and with fewer hassles. Travel is increasing and India needs to get a fair share of inbound traffic.”

Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI said, “We are now offering 100-plus online courses for free to our members– from how to be a better travel consultant, how to be an effective counter staff and many soft skills. It is rich in content, and we hope our members will take advantage of this”. TAFI has also tied up with another firm to provide 100+ skilling courses on various subjects.

Shravan Bhalla, Convention Head & VP, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India, says, “Post fam trips, travel agents can sell Kenya as a wildlife destination in a much better and more professional way. Stay in Kenya can be extended to 10 nights from just 4-5 nights”,

5th OTOAI Convention which was held at Sarova Stanley, Nairobi, Kenya, from 24th-27th Nov. “150 members were present in the convention and we are happy about receiving positive response from the members who went for fam trips and sightseeing,” said Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI.