Tag Archives: IATO

Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has requested the Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to reduce the entrance fee for foreign nationals at ASI monuments, charging them the same as it would charge the nationals of SAARC countries. This, it requests, should be extended till March 31, 2022 and will help inbound tour operators reduce the package cost. The move will also help spread the message to the international travel community that India is more than willing and ready to welcome foreign tourists. The reduced fee and in turn a reduction in the package cost would enable inbound tour operators to start selling trips to India as soon as the country opens for international tourism.

A combined united delegation of four travel trade associations (IATO, ADTOI, ATOAI and OTOAI) led by IATO President Pronab Sarkar met the Tourism Minister, Prahlad Singh Patel in Delhi to discuss various grievances faced by tour operators amid ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The minister heard out the delegation at length and also addressed issues individually faced by the associations. The Minister has assured all possible support and said the ministry has already reached out to the Finance Minister for industry-specific relief. Associations representatives felt content after the meeting and expressed gratitude to the Minister for giving them a patient hearing. The Minister has called out for a united stand of the industry to fight the pandemic and overcome all the challenges. Apart from the President, Rajiv Mehra, Vice President represented IATO while, heads of other associations, Captain Swadesh Kumar, PP Khanna and Riaz Munshi represented ATOAI, ADTOI and OTOAI. From the ministry, Rakesh Sharma, Joint Secretary, MOT and Meenakshi Sharma, DG, Tourism were present during the meeting.

In a letter to all its members, the President of IATO has said that inbound tourism is not going to start in 2020 in the absence of a vaccination. Pronab Sarkar in the letter also said that the association seeks ideas from members on how they look at survival in individual capacity if there is no support from the Government. For the learning of other members from these ideas, IATO is looking forward to suggestions from everyone. Once inputs are received, IATO will call an all members Zoom meeting for members’ inputs and discuss the way forward. The association will communicate the date and time of members Webinar once it receives inputs and ideas by Wednesday, 27th May 2020 evening.

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.

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.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has written a letter to PM Narendra Modi for formulating survival and revival plans for the crisis-ridden tourism industry in the country. Fearing a huge impact of COVID-19 on the industry, the association has demanded a sectoral bail-out package. In its recommendations, IATO listed out several immediate relief measures required for survival on both short-term and long-term basis. Along with that, the association also listed out steps to be taken by government for revival of the industry post pandemic. The demands include measures such as enhanced value of SEIS to 10 %; extension of SEPC membership till 31st March 2021; payroll support for salaries; deferment of statutory loans and withdrawal of TCS among others.

A KPMG report on potential impact of COVID-19 on Indian economy says that along with large scale cancellations, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) estimates that the hotel, aviation and tourism sector may incur loss of about US$85 billion due to travel restrictions imposed on foreign tourists. The report also indicated that outbound and inbound travel to India will be at an all-time low with impact likely to be felt on both white and blue collar jobs.

Nominations for IATO election, scheduled on 25th April at The Ashok New Delhi, have been released. The last date of withdrawal is today by 3pm. As of now, for the position of the President, there have been five nominations— Rajiv Mehra, Uday Tours & Travels; Amaresh Tiwari, AT Seasons & Vacations Travel; Lally Mathews, Divine Voyages; Rajesh Mudgill, Planet India Travels and EM Najeeb, Air Travel Enterprises. For Senior Vice President, the nominations are— EM Najeeb, Air Travel Enterprises; Lajpat Rai, Lotus Trans Travel; and Sarab Jit Singh, Travelite (India). For Vice President, nominations have been received from Raj Bajaj, Perfect Travels & Tours; Ravi Gosain, Erco Travels; Amaresh Tiwari, AT Seasons & Vacations Travel; Arun Anand, Midtown Travels; Lally Mathews, Divine Voyages; Rajesh Mudgill, Planet India Travels; and Lajpat Rai, Lotus Trans Travel. For Hony. Secretary, nominations have been received from Rajnish Kaistha, Paradise Holidays India; Raj Bajaj, Perfect Travels & Tours; Ravi Gosain, Erco Travels; Amaresh Tiwari, AT Seasons & Vacations Travel; Lally Mathews, Divine Voyages; Rajesh Mudgill, Planet India Travels; and Sanjay Razdan, Razdan Holidays. For Hony. Treasurer, the nominations have been received from Rajnish Kaistha, Paradise Holidays India; Viney Tyagi, Uni Crystal Holidays; Ravi Gosain, Erco Travels; Arun Anand, Midtown Travels; Sunil Mishra, Cosmos Tours & Travels; Atul Rai, Ananya Tours; Tony Marwah, Indian Travel Promotion Company; and Sanjay Razdan, Razdan Holidays. For Hony. Joint secretary, Rajnish Kaistha, Paradise Holidays India; Raj Bajaj, Perfect Travels & Tours; Viney Tyagi – Uni Crystal Holidays; Sunil Mishra, Cosmos Tours & Travels; Atul Rai, Ananya Tours; Tony Marwah, Indian Travel Promotion Company; Sanjay Razdan, Razdan Holidays; and Naresh Sharma – Inpac Tours. For EC Members – Active (5 posts), …

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) will have its elections on April 25, 2020 at The Ashok, New Delhi. The information was shared by Rajesh Mudgill, Hony. Secretary, IATO during the last interactive luncheon meeting of the current Executive Committee of the association took place on February 28. He said that official notification about the election will be soon shared with the members. Akshay Kumar, CEO, Mercury Himalayan Explorations will be the returning officer.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has estimated that there could be losses up to $500 million because of cancellations from tourists from China and other countries due to the coronavirus outbreak. According to an estimate, more than 50,000 Chinese tourists were expected to visit during January-February and most of these bookings have now been cancelled, as India has blocked the entry of people from China and Hong Kong apart from many other countries. “We fear an immediate loss of up to $500 million as the coronavirus outbreak has hit the arrival of tourists from China, Hong Kong and neighbouring countries,” said Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO. He said losses for domestic tour operators would be much higher, as many outgoing local tourists to China and other countries were also cancelling bookings after the outbreak. “There is a panic in the tourism sector as thousands of bookings have been cancelled,” said E.M. Najeeb, Senior Vice President, IATO. He said foreign as well as domestic tourists were cancelling travel to Kerala.