Category Archives: Associations

The 61st Annual General Meeting of the Hotel & Restaurant Association of Eastern India, the strongest forum of the hospitality industry of the region, with 12 member states and one union territory, was held on September 21, 2022 in The Park Hotel, Kolkata. Sudesh Poddar was re-elected as the President of HRAEI for the year 2022-2023. The team led by Poddar has stalwarts like T.S. Walia, Past President FHRAI, Md. Azhar as Senior-Vice president, Aneel Goenka as Vice-President, Pranav Singh as Honorary Secretary, Amit Ruia as Honorary Treasurer, Sandeep Sehgal as Joint Honorary Secretary and H.S. Bagga as Joint Honorary Treasurer.

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, addressed the National Conference of State Tourism Ministers in Dharamshala recently where he said that the need of the hour is to organise physical roadshows in foreign countries under the leadership of Ministry of Tourism. “This needs to be done on an urgent basis. The state governments are already participating in major travel marts overseas.”

On occasion of World Tourism Day, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said, “The potential of tourism is enormous, and we have a shared responsibility to ensure it is fully realised. On World Tourism Day 2022, UNWTO calls on everyone, from tourism workers to tourists themselves, as well as small businesses, large corporations and governments, to reflect and rethink what we do and how we do it. We need effective public-private partnerships in tourism for inclusive recovery and I look forward to working closely with WTTC CEO Julia Simpson.”

Sharing news about the upcoming convention from 16 -19 December, Rajiv Mehra, IATO President, says, “All activities including registration, business sessions and evening programmes will be held at The Centrum, Lucknow. We expect about 900-1000 delegates from all over the country. Added attraction for this year convention would be Post Convention Tours to Ayodhya and Varanasi. We expect participation of about 18 to 20 State Governments in the convention.”

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, addressed the National Conference of State Tourism Ministers in Dharamshala recently, where he requested G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, to declare 2023 as Visit India Year for foreign tourists. “This will help the industry to revive, otherwise I expect just 35% business to come by 31st March 2023,” he said.

Hotel Association of India (HAI) will be having its conclave on 29 September, 2022 at the Lalit New Delhi, which will be inaugurated by G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, revealed MP Bezbaruah, Secretary General, HAI.

Sharing an update on the convention, Ajay Prakash, TAFI President, says, “We have registered 485 delegates for the upcoming convention. The enthusiasm is remarkable because our convention is happening directly after 2018. The destination is interesting as well as it is a relatively unknown destination for the Indian travel trade. We opened registrations for the convention on August 5 and within just two weeks we received over 400 registrations! However, we were clear that we would only take members who are actively involved in the trade and of course the first preference is our own members.”

Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) will be having their 37th Annual Convention in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, announced Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO. “The exact date and venue for the convention will be announced by the end of next week in consultation with UP Tourism. Uttar Pradesh is changing for the better and is being developed like never before. With new destinations, especially Ram Mandir in Ayodhya coming up in a few years, it will be a huge attraction for tourists. Just like we promoted Amritsar and Varanasi internationally, we will promote Ayodhya and UP as well,” he said.

Sharing details of the business sessions during the upcoming TAFI convention in Kuching, Malaysia, Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, says, “We will explore the theme – Build Back Better – in detail during our knowledge sessions. We have invited speakers who have built back brands after Covid and who have re-invented their businesses so they can share their experience with everyone.”

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, has said that India should do some kind of advertising that our country has the Presidency of G20 and that people should visit India during this period. Kit needs to be done to increase Forex earnings and to increase business.