Category Archives: Associations

The admiration for rural tourism, according to Liz Ortiguera, CEO of PATA, is a silver lining to the pandemic-driven industrial impact, but it can have severe consequences if rapid rural growth is not done sustainably and responsibly. PATA strives to advance methods that promote good growth. PATA recently co-hosted the 15th UNWTO/PATA Forum on ‘Tourism and Rural Development,’ during which Ortiguera stated that rural tourism is growing in popularity across Asia-Pacific, owing to consumer demand and government efforts to ring-fence safe vacation destinations.

A Heritage Walk was conducted on 26 Oct 21 by the Andaman Association of Tour Operators in association with the Ministry of Tourism (India Tourism Port Blair). The walk was a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations by AATO. Students of BBA Tourism of JNRM College participated in the walk along with AATO members and India Tourism officials. The walk was flagged off from National memorial Cellular Jail by AATO president Shri.M.Vinod and Assistant Director India Tourism Port Blair Shri.Ramakrishnan. JNRM faculty members Shri.Abdul Salam & Ms.Saida also graced the occasion. From Cellular Jail the participants walked to the Battle of Aberdeen war memorial where Joint Secretary AATO Shri.Saikat Biswas briefed the participants about the famous war of Aberdeen and the importance of the war memorial. The walk terminated at JNRM college, where the participants were distributed certificates and refreshments. Speaking on the occasion Shri.M.Vinod highlighted the importance of Celluar Jail in the freedom struggle of India and urged the students to carry forward the vision of the freedom fighters on the occasion of 75 years of India’s independence. Delivering the vote of thanks Shri.K.Hamza, General Secretary of AATO thanked India Tourism Port Blair, JNRM tourism faculty and Heaven on Ocean Tourism (Coral Safari) for the support rendered for conducting the Heritage Walk. AATO in association with the ministry of tourism will be conducting FAM trips for the JNRM students and also organise photography & Essay writing competition as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) has initiated a campaign to raise awareness on the copyright issues faced by hospitality establishments over playing recorded music. The campaign has been launched in the wake of recent incidences that occurred in Pune when two Mumbai-based private firms extorted Rs1.37 lakh from businessmen under the pretext of issuing them copyright licenses for staging musical performances at marriage ceremonies in a star hotel. HRAWI has met and submitted a written appeal to the Pune Commissioner of Police requesting him to take cognizance of the crime and register economic offence against the private agencies for extortion

The next three to five years could see failures of multiple airlines that do not have the financial strength to invest in decarbonisation, says the CAPA-Envest Airline Sustainability Benchmarking Report 2021. “Climate change is a critical challenge, and climate inaction is a critical mistake. We have partnered with Envest Global to assess the impact on airlines of increased pressure to reduce aircraft carbon emissions, and to assist them in understanding global trends and meeting the growing expectations of stakeholders,” says CAPA Chairman Emeritus Peter Harbison.

Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI and Member Board – CII National Committee on Tourism and Hospitality, on behalf of the travel trade fraternity, submitted its inputs and recommendations to Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution at the 3rd edition of DPIIT – ASCON Consultation Forum with Industry Associations’ theme ‘Stimulating Growth for Aatmanirbhar Bharat -Leveraging Opportunities Post Pandemic’. The six key recommendations were collated into a presentation under Investments, Cost of doing business, Ease of doing business, Trade Policy, Technology & R&D & Job creation & Skills. Some of the key recommendations by the committee are: Inclusion of Tourism in Concurrent list. The National Tourism Policy has had multiple deliberations, but a revised policy is still awaited. Waiver of statutory dues and licenses. ECLGS 5.0 for disbursing another 20% on outstanding loans. Govt. to restore SEIS to 7% for travel and 5% for hotels & to restore without legal entity wise capping of 5 crores. Auto-renewal of licenses without any fees for this financial year. Enabling investments in the industry in a time-bound manner through single-window clearances. Promote travel spending LTA Tax Exemption and Allow a 200 per cent weighted exemption. Need of National Tourism Fund to be created. An empowered Taskforce to be created with members from the Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Tourism, Environment, Shipping, Civil Aviation and Culture. To restart scheduled international flights in tandem with tourist visas to stimulate inbound tourism & necessary provision to be made in the new Foreign Trade Policy 2021-26 for custom duty waiver. Opening up tourism by starting e-visa, through Vaccine certificates & promoting India as a Safe Tourist Destination. Campaigns to attract young …

Objecting to gross misstatements and inadequate disclosures contained in the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) issued by Oravel Stays (Oyo), FHRAI has made an official submission to SEBI to suspend its IPO process. Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI, says, “The investigation by the Competition Commission of India is a serious one. To our understanding, there has not been a single instance where a company being investigated for anti-competitive practices by the Director General of the CCI has been permitted to initiate an IPO.”

Travel Agents Federation of India – Gujarat Chapter has written to the Ahmedabad Airport Director regarding an announcement made for Ahmedabad runway repair from 3 January 2022 to 31 May 2022 from 9am to 6pm excluding public holidays and Sundays. The latter states, ‘We propose that this repair and maintenance work if possible should be executed in night hours from 10pm to 5am starting from March 2022 with a short completion period. We seek your immediate support to make these changes happen and save the tourism industry from losing its current pace.’  

According to new research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the recovery of the sector has been hampered by the lack of international coordination, severe travel restrictions and slower vaccination rates in some parts of the world which still hamper many regions of the world. The research reveals that at the current rate of recovery, Travel & Tourism’s contribution to the global economy could see a similar moderate year on year rise of 31.7% in 2022.

A delegation from TAAI was present at the inaugural ceremony of IITM in Bengaluru. Bettaiah Lokesh, Hon. Secretary General, TAAI, said, “TAAI wishes to congratulate the organisers of IITM for extending the invite to TAAI for attending the ceremony. We are delighted to be a part of such an amazing event.” Amish Desai, Chairman, TAAI Karnataka Chapter, added, “We would like to thank the Hon’ble Minister for gracing the occasion with his presence. We are looking forward to early revival of the sector with such positive steps.”

Senior officials from the ATOAI Team met with the Tourism Minister, Shri G. Kishan Reddy on 19th October to discuss the various possibilities of the promotion of adventure tourism in the country. ATOAI requested the Minister to give special focus to the promotion of adventure tourism in overseas and India in all MoT Campaigns. The Minister has assured full cooperation to the association for the same. ATOAI also presented the Indian Adventure Tourism Guidelines booklet to the Minister and requested him to push all the States and the Union Territories to adopt the guidelines officially and follow them in letter and spirit.