Tag Archives: Hony Secretary

Rajnish Kaistha, Hony. Secretary, IATO, has said that the allocation for tourism budget for overseas promotions have been reduced, which in turn would affect the inbound business, especially when the borders open. “Government needs to allocate higher budgets for overseas promotion, publicity and marketing, along with MDA, because that is needed for our survival. The MDA gives us money to go and participate in the overseas trade shows and promotions abroad so that we get more tourists to start with and also do overseas marketing in an aggressive manner, for which higher budgets are needed. Any reduction in that is going to cause bigger damage in the long run and in the immediate future,” he says.

The Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) will conduct its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and election on January 20, 2021. The event, which will be organised virtually, will allow the association to discuss the proceedings and events of the past year, and also help it plan the agenda for 2021, informs Vinayak Koul, Hony. Secretary, ATOAI.

Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) concluded its first online members’ meet on March 31, which was attended by close to 100 members from across the country, including Kerala, Assam, Ladakh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The meeting, moderated by Capt. Swadesh Kumar, President, ATOAI and Vinayak Koul, Hony. Secretary, ATOAI, helped members and the Association share constructive ideas to survive in present times. Members also got a chance to share their experiences. The keynote speaker for the meeting, Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH, briefed members on various topics related to the COVID-19 crisis and explained that the strategy going forward should broadly be divided in two phases – phase-I being survival and phase-II being revival. He also informed members about the various efforts of FAITH for the tourism industry.

The venue for the upcoming India Tourism Mart (ITM), scheduled to take place from September 16-18, 2018, has been changed by the organisers. The much-awaited travel trade event, which was earlier slated to be held at Vigyan Bhavan, will now take place at The Ashok, New Delhi. Informing about the updated schedule, Subhash Goyal, Hony Secretary, FAITH and Chairman, India Tourism Mart said, “The venue for ITM has been changed by the Ministry of Tourism looking at the overall security arrangements. It will now be held at The Ashok, New Delhi. Other programmes remain intact as per schedule.”  

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has recently announced the theme for its 34th Annual Convention as ’20 Million Tourists: Challenges & Possibilities’, to be held in Visakhapatnam from September 6-9, 2018. While announcing the theme, Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, IATO said, “The theme has been finalised after consideration from the Ministry of Tourism. We will hold discussions on it and will try to look how we can achieve this target. A session will be held on hotels and airlines during the convention. The theme has been finalised by the Executive Committee.” The association has already announced the governing body for the convention. While Rajiv Mehra has been appointed as the Chairman, Rajesh Mudgil, Hony Secretary, IATO has been appointed as Co-Chairman. Amaresh Tiwari has been named as Convener for IATO Run for Responsible Tourism. The venue of the convention is Hotel Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach. Talking about IATO’s activities in last one month, Mehra said, Mehra said, “We conducted a roadshow to the US with Ministry of Tourism where 25 active members of IATO participated. We also concluded IATO’s Chapter Meeting in Mumbai, attended by Hony Secretary Rajesh Mudgil.”

The biennial election of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) is slated for April 23, shared Pronob Sarkar, Hony Secretary, IATO, at the inaugural day of the ‘Destination North East 2016’ mega event. Sarkar added that the IATO Convention would take place sometime in September this year. Elections will be held as per Article 11 of the Memorandum of Association for the offices of President, Senior Vice President, Vice President, Secretary, Joint Secretary, Treasurer, Executive Committee Members (Active) and Executive Members (Allied) to be elected by the active members of the association. Speaking at the event, he highlighted the need to spread awareness about the Northeastern region’s tourism products and that public private partnership (PPP) mode would be instrumental in promoting growth in the region.