Tag Archives: Jyoti Mayal

Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, has said that by appointing three ministers for tourism (including one cabinet minister) and three ministers for culture, the Prime Minister has given a heavy weight focus to tourism. “We always had a lot of expectations from MOT, but now being given a cabinet berth, we expect much more and quicker decisions to take place. This is because the Government is looking at tourism as the industry, which would quickly revive the economy. Else, the PM wouldn’t have put so much of manpower into it,” she said.

Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, has said that it’s a welcome move by the Finance Minister to announce package or relief for the travel agents and the tourism people, especially the tourist guides, who are registered on the MOT website. “However, I still feel that more should have come for the tourism sector, which is really suffering a huge cash flow crunch, seeing low business and are not even looking at any business coming and reviving quickly. I think more needs to be done, as the 10% which will be useful to some of the smallest players, will not go far for the majority. Hence, the industry in general, has not been helped. However, it’s a small light at the end of the tunnel. We are also looking at the ECLGS scheme and we hope that something more will be added to it. In addition, SEIS would be another perspective that would be looked at. Hence, let’s hope there is some more coming and we keep our fingers crossed that whatever they have announced will be distributed easily and doesn’t just remain on paper. We need ease of getting that amount also. Overall it’s a good move and we are looking for more and I hope it’s the beginning to get more respite,” she added.

In a marathon session fielding member queries, Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, urged everyone to register themselves on the Ministry of Tourism website. She said, “Agencies who don’t do this may not be allowed to call themselves a travel agent.” The association has also written to MoCA to help resolve matters with Air India bookings multiple times, and has sought an online appointment directly with the PM.

Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, has commented, “Overall, the 2021 Budget is empowering people for greater economic freedom, sound infrastructure, metro, railways, airports, and highways. However, we are very disappointed that as travel and tourism has not got anything specifically, despite being a strong GDP contributor, as well as having a huge value chain going across all levels, which is going to be affected. We might see many shops closing down and people going out of business.” She added, “We expected much more than what was announced. However, we believe the Budget 2021 has focused more on spendings to enable economic growth through infrastructure roads and financial remedies. Travel, tourism and hospitality was completely neglected. As we await the fineprint, the direct taxes are not clear. “Further Dis-investment in AirIndia is still on the rocks and is expected to be completed this year. Clarity on the same is eagerly is awaited by us, the main stakeholder partner hereto. For Rail packages over the years this shall be a advantage since the Plan is to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030. Passenger Logistics shall have advantage in the circuits and infrastructure. “In Tourism we shall be able to attract for foreign tourist and give more opportunities to travellers. For passenger convenience and safety, the following measures are proposed—We will introduce the aesthetically designed Vista Dome LHB coach on tourist routes to give a better travel experience to passengers. The safety measures undertaken in the past few years have borne results. To further strengthen this effort, high density network and highly utilized network routes of Indian railways will be provided with an indigenously developed automatic train protection system that eliminates train …

TAAI has appealed to Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation and PS Patel, Minister of Tourism, to set up urgent protocols for travellers who are getting vaccinated against COVID-19. “This shall enable vaccinated travellers to resume their activities to pre-COVID times and live towards a better future,” says Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI.

TAAI has recently concluded its AGM virtually, which saw its national team, heads and ECs state and region chapters, as well as members in presence, revealed Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI. “We completed first year of our 2019-21 tenure. Our team was appreciated for its hard work. Now, we are working on our way forward. We had also invited Aashish Gupta, Consulting CEO, FAITH and we had a detailed dialogue with the office bearers and the Management Committee, and regional chapter teams, who gave their inputs on how they want TAAI to be a futuristic organisation,” she said.

Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has written to Minister of Civil Aviation and Minister of Tourism to request them to open tourist visas for foreigners to visit India; to make RTPCR tests mandatory for all arriving passengers with no quarantine; to absorb the costs of RTPCR test and waive it for travellers; should offer mandatory travel insurance for all incoming tourists, and allow travel to countries with which they don’t have air bubble agreement via flights through countries with which These agreements  are in place. Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, had commented recently, “This would allow airlines to offer connecting flights to countries that are allowing Indians to visit. Many countries, which are not connected directly, like South Africa, South America, etc., but people want to travel there. Hence, there is a need to open beyond air bubbles. This would allow footfall on both sides.”

Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, has said that they have been in discussion with Ministry of Civil Aviation for many of their issues, one of which is the acceptance of credit cards by airlines. “It has been cleared by the PAPJC and IATA, but we are still knocking every airline’s door. There should be a directive from the government for the same. There should be neutral capping of fares. Also, we are looking at remuneration in a big way. As travel consultants, we should have a right to charge our fee. Else, our services can be treated as MRP product so that we are protected. We should be allowed to charge 10% fee on it like the hotel industry is charging service fee,” she said.

Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, has said that they had met Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of Tourism & Culture, along with the other association heads, where they have requested him to initiate a meeting with Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation, so that they can discuss their issues with him, especially regarding restructuring tourism business, refunds, money stuck with airlines, and also about Air India and the service fee that the agents charge for booking VBM flights.

Efforts put in by TAAI have finally borne fruit as the government has now permitted travel agents to book Vande Bharat flights. “We appreciate Air India, MoCA and NITI Aayog for supporting our initiatives, and look forward to more compliances to support the struggling industry,” says Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI. As of now, flights to USA, Germany (FRA) and France (CDG) have been announced in the coming phase.