Category Archives: Associations

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.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced passenger data for July 2022 showing that the recovery in air travel continues to be strong. India’s domestic RPKs rose 97.8% in July and are now exceeding 81% of 2019 levels.

According to the latest Economic Trends Report by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), India has been ranked sixth in terms of travel and tourism’s contribution towards GDP. India contributed $178 billion towards GDP in 2021. The first position was secured by the United States with $1271.2 billion dollars contribution of travel and tourism towards GDP.

Ravi Gosain, VP, IATO said, “Technology plays an important part in our lives, and travel is not different from that. In the coming years, it will change the life of travel agents and tour operators in the way they are working.” 

The World Travel and Tourism Council reports that the travel and tourism industry is facing a staffing deficit of 1.2 million in 2022, with Italy the most hard-hit country. Pay is a major issue in key sectors of the industry, especially in hospitality.

Ajay Prakash President, TAFI said that there are several travel agents who applied for TAFI membership because they wanted to be a part of the convention. “So perhaps a convention is a great way to boost membership!”.