Category Archives: Associations

Commenting on the latest communication from the Government for the restaurant industry, Pradeep Shetty, Sr. VP, Hotel & Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), says, “We neither have permission to conduct business nor are we being compensated. We need a clear roadmap about what is to be expected from the Government for us to make informed decisions for our businesses.”

In his opinion piece on Moneycontrol.com, Suman Billa, Director, Technical Cooperation & Silk Road at UNWTO, advised, “Enable travel in a predictable and hassle-free manner. A national committee with the Ministries of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Health along with representatives from the states and industry should be set up to prescribe and harmonise travel restrictions across India.”

FHRAI has submitted a representation to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting reintroduction of the scheme granting ex-gratia payment of the difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months to borrowers from the hospitality sector in view of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme was formerly announced in October last year.

During an insightful webinar organised by PATA, Prof John Koldowski, School of Tourism, Leshan University in China, said, “It looks like another tough year for inbound travel into India. But, if India can show that it is containing the spread of infection and upped its immunisation process, the numbers can improve. The outbound travel numbers from India however look more robust.”

FHRAI has shared its suggestions on the proposed amendments to Consumer Protection (e-Commerce) Rules, 2020 to Anupam Mishra, Joint Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The suggestions aim to cover the duties and responsibilities of sellers, of e-commerce entities as well as to protect the consumer and hotels and restaurants owners in case of deficiency in services.

PATA’s webinar ‘Asia Pacific Tourism Forecast’, is set to be held today at 12.00 pm. During this webinar, participants will get to meet Liz Ortiguera, the new CEO of PATA, who will share insights on the future of travel & tourism around the world, with a focus on Asia Pacific. Also, Prof John Koldowski, School of Tourism, Leshan University, China, and a renowned tourism analyst will share indepth analysis on the forecast for Asia Pacific Tourism. Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Bku5hVW-TRq5f_SiqmD5IQ.

Conrad Clifford, IATA’s Deputy Director General and Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific, believes that vaccination and testing have a role to play in the recovery of international travel, and it is not sustainable to maintain a ‘zero caseload’ approach. He says, “It is not an option to wait for vaccines to be widely available before reopening borders. The global vaccine roll-out is likely to take time.”

Members of the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) chose Ajay Prakash as their new national president via electronic voting today. The results were announced at around 5:30pm. He will lead the new team with  Kamal Ramchand as the Vice-President. Other winners include Abbas Moiz as the National General Secretary, and Hitank Shah as the Treasurer. The five Managing Committee Members are Anil Kalsi, Lalith Jain, Rani Bachani, Rai Achal Krishna and Seeraj Sabharwal.

Liz Ortiguera, CEO, PATA, will share her insights on the future of travel & tourism in APAC at the PATA Tourism PowerHouse webinar on 29th July, at 12 pm. Prof John Koldowski, School of Tourism, Leshan University, China and a renowned tourism analyst, will also share his views on outbound tourism from India at the webinar. To attend, register at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Bku5hVW-TRq5f_SiqmD5IQ

HRAWI has offered waiver of annual membership fees for 2021-22. The offer is a one-time relief measure for members who can choose to opt for a part, i.e. 50% or full waiver of the annual fees. Members who have already paid their fees for the current year 2021-22 but would like to receive the waiver can request their fees to be carried forward for the next year.