Category Archives: Associations

Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has written again to the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Finance, regarding concerns of the industry and urging for a stimulus package and schemes of the Government, which was not included in the package announced by the Ministry of Finance. Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, also revealed that they have asked MoCA to make an aviation task force which includes the travel agent community, so that they can be put their issues and ideas at the forefront.

Network of Indian M!CE Agents (NIMA) will not be creating its own state chapters, but instead would partner with other local trade bodies and associations in every state and promote M!CE tourism with them. Jagdeep Bhagat, National Coordinator,  NIMA and CEO of Vee Bee Tours & Travels, said, “Instead of creating state chapters for our association, we will be partnering with the local state associations. The local state bodies are already there and our core objective is to develop the state. Hence, whatever NIMA resources are there, towards skill development, education, branding, and technology advancement, we will be drafting, analysing, conceptualising all these efforts, which are required for the M!CE sector to grow within the state. We will be doing this collectively with the local state tourism associations. Of course, we will join hands with like-minded associations, and those who believe in our philosophy to do good work in the field of M!CE. We have already partnered with couple of state associations and we are in discussion with others too. By the time the whole lockdown is cleared, we will be up and running in at least 10-12 states. This way we will work for the benefit of MICE sector in the states and ultimately it will grow M!CE within the country.”

Suman Billa, Director, Technical Cooperation & Silk Route Development, UNWTO, has said that the Indian stimulus package follows the same trajectory as other global stimulus packages, and instead of being disheartened about not having a specific tourism stimulus package, the industry should reach out to the government and share what in the existing package doesn’t work for them. “The industry should pitch for moratorium on interest and lowering of interest rates. They should look at firms which were left out and ensure that everybody should get access to loans. We need to look at the existing package and see what provisions are pinching us and tell the government that it is not catching the sensitivity of the tourism sector. If we can say that, I am sure that the government will be happy to consider the request,” commented Billa while speaking at the ‘Saving Airlines & Allied Industries – Saving Jobs’ webinar. He added that most stimulus packages across the world are sector-agnostic, and that the industry should carefully assess the existing provisions and propose the changes that are specifically required for the tourism sector.

The Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA) has announced its new National Committee for the term 2020-2021. Jagat Mehta will continue to be the President and Board Member, and Dharmesh Advani has been promoted to National General Secretary and Board Member of ETAA. Meghana Gautam is now Joint General Secretary while Carl Dantas remains Chairman Emeritus and Founder President of ETAA. During the lockdown, the association conducted 15 webinars for its members on various topics such as CRM, unexplored destinations, insurance, legal compliance, social media, etc. It will continue to organise webinars for its members to impart knowledge and to assist them in growing business. Jagat Mehta says, “The association is disappointed with the government as it has not considered any relief packages for the Tourism Industry even after our constant efforts to highlight the problems faced by our industry due to Covid-19. However, we are still pursuing the matter, since this effect may last for a significant period in the near future.” The various Chapter Chairpersons are Sangeeta Manocha (North India), Santosh Khawale (Western India), Koushik Banerjee (East India), Jagadeesh Hanumanthaih (South India) and Nikhil Pargaonkar (Mumbai Region). Abhijit Khadilkar has decided to move on from his post of National General Secretary for ETAA and will now concentrate on growing his business.  

The Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) has released a set of guidelines for post-COVID-19 handling of guests by tour operators. Sharing the information in a tweet, the association said that The ATOAI guidelines will serve as recommendations for the safe handling of guests in a post-COVID-19 world. The document features the list of steps various stakeholders should take while on a tour or at their property/hotel. The intended audience for these guidelines is tour operators and accommodation providers including hotels, resorts and homestays. This document is NOT intended to serve as the definitive mandate for these operations, nor is it intended to cover every aspect of accommodation and tour operator businesses. ATOAI has focussed on the most common guest touchpoints, collating publicly information from a variety of sources. One should also not expect that following these guidelines guarantees no infection. The full guidelines can be accessed at www.atoai.org/index.php/about-us/covid-19-guidelines.html   

Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, IATO during the 3rd TravTalk Digital Conclave said that IATO will organise skill development programs for its members to support them with help tackle the challenges created by COVID-19 crisis for the inbound industry. “Once everything normalises, we will start organising skill development programs for our members. We are hoping some relief from the government as well. We as an association cannot give monetary benefits to our members but we are actively in touch with the government to every possible thing for the survival of members. I expect this grave situation to get a little better in 3-4 months time once lockdown is lifted. IATO will definitely go forward and promote domestic tourism,” he said.

The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) has decided that making a fund to help the ailing tourism industry would be part of their future course of action, after the tourism industry was snubbed by the Government and no stimulus package was announced by the Finance Minister for the same. Subhash Goyal, Secretary General, FAITH, said “We have a board meeting today at 9’o clock, and our next course of action will be decided there. We are making a final appeal to the Tourism Minister and the Prime Minister, and then we’ll see what action we shall take. Ultimately, we’ll have to create our own fund, on which we are working, and we will decide what name we’d give it today.”

The DDP Group, to support travel and hospitality companies affected by the COVID-19 crisis, has created a media fund of Rs1 crore under its ‘Standing with the Trade’ initiative. The move will help support businesses by providing targeted advertising campaigns, free of cost. Advertisements will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. Interested businesses can contact the DDP team through gaganpreet@ddppl.com. This initiative is supported by all of DDP Group’s premier publications, including TravTalk, Tourism Breaking News, TravelTV.News, M!CETalk and Hospitality Talk. Together, these publications reach 600,000 travel and hospitality professionals daily. “The timeliness and effectiveness of our actions as a united industry are more important than ever before and we are hoping that our initiative can assist stressed businesses till the market begins to strengthen again. Although it is difficult to predict how long this might continue, history has enough examples to show that after a time of economic difficulty, industry and countries have always bounced back,” says SanJeet, Director, DDP Group.

In a webinar organised by MOT and IATO to address queries related to filling Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) by tourism industry stakeholders, Suman Sharma, ADG, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), said that she and her team are trying to devise an industry-wise standard list of documents, which can help firms while filing SEIS claims. “The work on the document is almost complete from my end. I will submit the same to DGFT for their approval. It will probably help all the industries including tourism and will help them know what additional documents DGFT needs while they file SEIS and reduce the time of processing their application. Currently, DGFT doesn’t have FAQs specific to SEIS filing and claim procedure. Hence, a lot of travel industry professionals are facing issues with the same.” During the webinar, Rupinder Brar, ADG, MOT inquired about the FAQs looking at the number of queries from the trade and Suman Sharma agreed to do the same to help travel trade. Sharma is also the nodal officer to deal with SEIS claims and issues on tour and travel cases.

Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General, UNWTO has said that Tourism faces the biggest challenge of a generation amidst the current COVID-19 crisis. He said, “Tourism faces the biggest challenge of a generation. But events like Healing Solutions for Tourism’ Challenge’ has shown, tourism can deliver solutions for all. We now have an opportunity to rethink tourism and do things better. Virtual reality, artificial intelligence and big data will all have a part to play in our joint response to COVID-19, and in building resilience for the future. As such, I thank all those who took part in the Healing Solutions initiative and look forward to the winning ideas being scaled up to make a real difference in the challenging times ahead.” Tourism has been among the hardest hit of all major economic sectors. To rebuild confidence in travelling and to enhance tourism’s contribution to wider societal recovery, UNWTO called on innovators to share their ideas for positive change. Entrepreneurs pitched in three categories: Healing for People, Healing for Prosperity and Healing for Destinations. Over 1,100 applications were received and from the 30 shortlisted projects, nine were selected by a panel of sector leaders including Pololikashvili.