Category Archives: Associations

Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI, has said that the TCS being increased to 20% will hamper our business and at the same time there is going to be a huge deficiency in government revenue as people would prefer to either book through foreign tour operators or foreign OTAs to save GST and TCS both. “At present as well, outbound tour operators and government of India is losing revenue on the same grounds,” he added. 

The Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) in collaboration with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) organized a six-day Disaster Management Course from 30th January 2022 to 4th February 2023 at 8 Battalion, NDRF, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh for adventure guides. The adventure guides from across the country successfully completed the 6-day course on Disaster Management, Search & Rescue, First Aid & CPR, Fire Safety, Water Emergencies, Snake & Animal Bites, Group Exercises / Leadership, communication skills and related topics. The adventure guides were awarded certificates on completion of the course by Commandant Praveen Kumar Tiwary, Commandant 8th Battalion NDRF. The adventure guides were also made honorary wardens for keeping ‘the great outdoors’ pristine and to ensure that ATOAI safety guidelines are followed in letter and spirit. Commandant Praveen Kumar Tiwary says “NDRF is known for its professional acumen in the field of disaster response and rescue operations. This course is going to be a force multiplier for the participants. The people associated with adventure sports are passionate and having tremendous set of skills. This course is certainly going to help them in their future endeavours. The training imparted in this course will enable them to respond effectively in trying times”. Speaking to the adventure guides at NDRF Mr. Ajeet Bajaj, President, ATOAI said “ATOAI has always endeavoured to be a ‘Force for Good’ for our country and tried to pitch in during natural disasters. This is the value system ATOAI stands for and these training sessions will enable adventure guides who are trained professionals and spread across the country, to be force multipliers for rescue and support during natural disasters. This will also up-skill adventure professionals/ guides in providing …

In the Union Budget 2023, it was announced that the government has increased Tax Collection at Source (TCS) for overseas packages from 5%to 20%. Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI, says that instead of reducing the TCS, it has been increased and it will hamper the business. Rajeev Sabharwal  (CA), Chief Executive, Gaurav Travels, says outbound industry should oppose this move.

J K Mohanty, Chairman – HRAO & IATO Eastern Region, has said, “The budget should provide adequate resources for the development of tourism infrastructure in the country. Further, the hospitality sector had been demanding infrastructure status for last 10 years but govt has not paid any attention to this.”

Dr Subhash Goyal (MBA, PhD), Chairman – STIC Travel Group and Member – National Tourism Advisory Council, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has been appointed as the Honorary Patron for the Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA). “His vast experience in the Global and Indian tourism industry will be a guiding force for us to further the objectives of NIMA for the betterment of our members and other stakeholders of the Indian MICE industry,” said a statement from NIMA.

Ajeet Bajaj, President, ATOAI, has said that setting up the National Board for Adventure Tourism by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, is a welcome step, “We have already had two board meetings and are gaining momentum. This inter-ministerial board with state governments’ participation will help resolve many issues pertaining to adventure tourism in India.”

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has shared that air travel recovery across the world continued through November 2022, with India’s domestic recovery catching up with 2019 numbers soon. “In India, domestic RPKs (Revenue Passenger Kilometers) increased by 11.1% YoY and ASKs by 0.5%. November RPKs were 12.2% short of 2019 results,” it said.

FHRAI has submitted a representation to Arvind Singh, IAS, Secretary, MoT explaining concerns faced by hotels in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh over delay in classification of 1, 2 and 3 star hotels. Pending from the last 3 to 6 months, hotels in these states that are seeking either re-classification or classification of their properties are facing hardships. With licenses having expired or being due for renewal, including that of liquor license, most hotels are not able to renew the licenses due to the delay in the classification process.

E.M. Najeeb, Senior Vice President, IATO said, “the budget allocation is tourism must increase. Most of the states are increasing their budget allocation in tourism and the central government should also increase their allocation to three times or four times in the tourism segment.” 

Ravi Gosain, Vice President, IATO said, “Inbound tourism has a lot of scope, it’s a value product compared to the domestic. It is very important to grow inbound parallelly to domestic tourism. The government should provide financial incentive and some facilitation in policies to help tourism industry grow.”