Category Archives: Associations

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) announces the new PATA Executive Board. Peter Semone has been formally endorsed as the Chair of the Association’s Executive Board. PATA also elected 6 new members: Benjamin Liao, Forte Hotel Group; Suman Pandey, Explore Himalaya Travel & Adventure; Tunku Iskandar, Mitra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd; SanJeet, DDP Publications; Luzi Matzig, Asian Trails, and Dr Fanny Vong, Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM).

Liz Ortiguera, CEO, PATA, has said that 2.8 Billion people have still not had the first vaccine – some are even medical front-liners. In a recent message, she quoted WHO Foundation, saying, “While people in high-income countries get back to the things they love, many in low-income countries remain restricted and vulnerable to infection. Vaccine inequity puts everyone at risk, with low vaccination rates creating the ideal conditions for new variants of COVID-19 to emerge. We are still seeing 1.5million cases of COVID-19 globally every day.”

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, has said that they have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi again thanking him for the steps he has taken in addressing the Indian community in Copenhagen asking the non-residents to send five foreign nationals each from their country to India. “That’s a very good sign of promoting India and if all the Indians abroad start sending five people or motivating them to go to India, I think tourism will flourish in the coming years. We thank the PM for that, and we have again written to him that whatever hurdles we are facing here with the different ministries and departments, need to be addressed immediately and steps should be taken for the same. I’m quite hopeful things will happen in this regard soon,” he mentioned.

The Hotel Association of India (HAI) has submitted a recommendation to the Director General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Santosh Kumar Sarangi urging the Directorate to review the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme (EPCG) and provide relief to the struggling industry. The association has highlighted that, at the time of availing the duty benefits under the Scheme, no one could have envisaged the impact of Covid and the resulting dip in the foreign currency earnings.  In light of the changed economic and geo-political scenario, HAI has said that it is imperative to review the EPCG policy and provide relief for the industry to survive and be able to fulfil its obligations under the scheme. Hotels are facing huge challenges of liquidity, revenue losses, negligible foreign exchange earnings, high costs that are mostly fixed in nature and several other operational difficulties. Hotels require more time to fulfil obligations under the scheme. The industry body also requested the government to not issue notices to hotels, propose punitive action against them for non-fulfillment of obligations and not encash hotels’ bank guarantees. HAI pointed out that the hospitality sector is one of the most impacted industries due to the pandemic. Hotels were closed for almost 6-8 months during 2020-21 and re-opened in phased manner. The aftermath of the second and third wave has left a dent on the sector’s road to recovery. It added that the hospitality industry is expected to be back to pre-covid levels only by FY24-25.   RECOMMENDATIONS SUBMITTED BY HAI ·    5 Years Extensions: In addition to the currently available extensions as          per the EPCG guidelines, it is requested to provide additional 4 years extension for all …

Citing the unprecedented rise in inflation, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has requested the GST Council to evaluate the present GST structure for the hospitality sector and appealed for it to be rationalized. FHRAI has suggested that all F & B revenue of hotels be delinked from their hotel room tariff slabs and allowed to charge GST at 5 per cent without ITC under the composite scheme and 12 per cent GST with ITC.   

Russia’s military offensive risks hampering the return of confidence to global travel, as per UNWTO. UNWTO Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness assesses that the US and Asian source markets could be particularly impacted, especially regarding travel to Europe, as these markets are historically more risk averse. As source markets, Russia and Ukraine represent a combined 3% of global spending on international tourism as of 2020. A prolonged conflict could translate into a loss of US$ 14 billion in tourism receipts globally in 2022.

More than 120 travel agencies from Mumbai and Pune attended the first knowledge session on TCS organised by TAFI. The association invited not only its members but kept it open to non-members as well at a nominal fee. The session was also open to the CAs of agents. Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, said, “We may look to replicate this in other cities for other TAFI chapter as well in order to help them resolve confusion around it.”

Leaders of the global tourism industry praised the Philippines’ successful hosting of the 21st Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) as it closed with high hopes for an industry battered by two years of the pandemic. “I’m not often stumped for words, but I am now. Wow! What an amazing summit. We really have rediscovered travel,” said Julia Simpson, president and CEO of the WTTC, who considered the “extraordinary Philippine welcome” as her personal highlight of the two-day summit. “That warmth, that passion, that generosity, that smile. I haven’t walked out one corridor without people saying to me ‘Good morning!’. It’s incredible. You live it. It’s not a show – it really is in your DNA,” she said after the closing ceremony. In her closing speech, Simpson said the success of the summit was “testament that the country’s tourism industry is well on its feet.” The summit, which gathered world leaders of the tourism industry, has given the Philippines the opportunity to showcase “how beautiful the country is,” Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said on Friday. She said the Philippines is now a top-of-mind destination for delegates, many of whom had decided to stay to savor the rest of the country where “we are setting an example of how to open safely.” “This has been a wonderful global summit and, to echo your brand campaign, we certainly had lots of fun in the Philippines. This is an experience all the delegates of the Summit can definitely attest to,” WTTC Chairman Arnold Donald  said in his closing address. Gloria Guevara, special advisor of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism and former president and CEO of WTTC, said the Philippines …

World tourism executives and scores of delegates from across the global travel and tourism sector gather in iconic Manila for the 3-day 21st World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit under the theme, “Rediscovering Travel”. Earlier in the opening ceremony at the Manila Marriot Hotel, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat welcomed the WTTC delegates attending in person and online, saying the summit “marks the beginning of a new era” for Philippine tourism. “Now is the time for us to revive our connections and engagement with people,” she said. Puyat was joined on stage by WTTC Chair and Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald and WTTC President and CEO Julia Simpson. On the opening day, the Philippines was lauded by the global tourism leaders attending the event on site. “Here in Asia-Pacific, the reopening is just beginning. And I have to say I congratulate the Philippines and Minister Bernadette, a nation that showed determination and courage to reignite travel in this region,” Simpson said. Puyat also served as one of the speakers during the summit’s first panel discussion titled Redefining Travel in a Changing World, sitting alongside Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths, Marriott International Group President Craig S. Smith, and The Global Rescue Companies CEO Dan Richards to talk about how travel and tourism sector continue to offer incredible experiences and drive social progress while still protecting health, preserving the environment, and responding to a rapidly changing landscape. Smith shared that the sector is well on its way to recovery, sharing his surprise at how fast tourism–in the Philippines–has been bouncing back. “I’ve never seen a recovery this fast: average rates, first time interest rates. Take the Philippines for example. We have …

Hotel Association of India (HAI) has submitted a recommendation to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, highlighting the steep rise in insurance premiums for hotel properties in the last few years. HAI has urged the government to restore the insurance premium rates for hotel properties to the level of FY 2018-19. MP Bezbaruah, Secretary-General, HAI said, “The current very high insurance premium rates as compared to pre-FY 2018-19 is a major disincentive.”