Tag Archives: President

The 51st FHRAI Annual Convention kicked off at the Amber Convention Centre in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The event was inaugurated by Vishvas Sarang, Minister (I/C) for Cooperation, Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief & Rehabilitation, Panchayat & Rural development, Malini Laxman Singh Gaur, Mayor of Indore; Vivek Nair, Chairman, Convention Organizing Committee, FHRAI and Bharat Malkani, President, FHRAI. Radisson Blu Hotel Indore is the venue for all the business sessions which will be conducted on September 23 and 24, 2016, and the FHRAI awards will be held on Sept 24, 2016, at the Amber Convention Centre. The theme for the convention ‘Brand India’ is inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision based on the 5T’s – Talent, Tradition, Tourism, Trade and Technology. The convention logo brings together the symbol of a flaming torch and the welcome gesture of ‘Namaste’. Welcoming all participants at the convention, Nair said that there is a need to create infrastructure to boost tourism in the country. He also said that GST should be relooked at a reasonable limit. Malkhani noted that FHRAI completed six decades of existence and the focus of the organisation is on skill development. The association has institued a study with the National Green Tribunal to bring out a book to run properties in a sustainable manner, which will be given to its members free of cost.

Sunil Kumar, President, United Federation of Travel Agents Associations (UFTAA), has revealed that the association board is reviewing the venue it had selected for its 50th anniversary celebrations this November. It had selected Istanbul as the destination. However, recent developments have forced the board to review it. While on his way to the airport for his flight to Istanbul last night to attend a meeting with the UFTAA board members, Kumar revealed, “We will review the venue for our Golden Jubilee Congress that is expected to be held anytime after November 22, 2016. The exact dates will also be confirmed at this meeting.” UFTAA will also be getting ready for the Passenger Agency Conference (PAConf) that will take place in September in Singapore, he added.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has finally frozen on the venue and dates for its 63rd convention. Sunil Kumar, President, TAAI, revealed, “We have decided on Abu Dhabi as the venue for our next convention that will be held from October 14-16, 2016. We are in the process of blocking air seats now. It is one of the strongest destinations in the Middle East region and also an easy place to reach from India. “We want a strong convention this year with a strong focus, for our members as well as our partners. We will focus on both inbound as well as outbound. We are amidst signing contracts for this right now and have blocked rooms and convention space at the grandiose Emirates Palace,” he said. The team is now working on the convention theme, logistics and other details.

In a landmark move the Vadodara Municipal Corporation has abolished health licences for hotels and restaurants operating in the city. According to a notification issued by the Corporation, Sanitary Health License under G.P.M.C Act was duplication as health and sanitation are already covered under Food & Safety Act 2006. “Central Govt and State Govt has in recent times been emphasising on ‘ease of doing business’ and simplification of regulations to reduce difficulties faced by general public. Considering this matter, with immediate effect, Vadodara Municipal Corporation, Ward Offices, Health Department, has cancelled issuance of Health License under Sec. 376 of G. P. M. C. Act, wherever license under Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006 is required and issued,” states the notification. Hailing the move as a milestone in the history of corporate India, The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), the apex body representing hotels and restaurant across the western region of India has commended Vadodara’s new Municipal Commissioner and expressed hope that other cities will follow the precedent. “For the last nine years we have been petitioning Municipalities across the Western Region for the exclusion of this particular license as it was a repetition and merely added to paper work and red-tapism. The association welcomes the decision and appreciates the affirmative and expedited action of H.S. Patel, Municipal Commissioner, Vadodara,” says Bharat Malkani, President, HRAWI.

Khalid Khan has been re-elected as President of Rajasthan Association of Tour Operators (RATO) while Mahender Singh will continue to hold the post of General Secretary of RATO for the next two years. The members were re-elected unopposed at the annual general meeting of the association. The new Executive Committee (EC) will be selected soon. Thanking the members, Khan assured all members of continuous efforts for betterment of RATO members, their rights and interests and for the promotion of tourism in Rajasthan

The ninth edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) is set to be the biggest and farthest-reaching yet. The biennial event will witness 57 countries besides 20 Indian states during the three-day Mart, which is being organised by the KTM Society in association with the Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala on September 27, World Tourism Day, in Kochi. Ten countries will be represented at the Mart for the first time, with Mexico, Georgia, Japan, China, Chile, Greece, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Botswana – markets as diverse as they are distant – all confirmed to participate. The 560 total international delegates registered for KTM 2016 features the biggest-ever contingents from 10 highly-prized traditional markets, including the US, Canada and Australia. Domestic participation too has seen an uptick, buoyed by aggressive marketing campaigns. Some 1,304 Indian buyers will participate this year. “The KTM has always emphasised the consistent identification of quality buyers in ever newer territories as much as retaining participation from conventional markets. With representation from 10 new nations this year, our efforts have borne fruit,” said Abraham George, President, KTM Society. “For KTM 2016, we have extended the prefixed appointment system to registered domestic buyers, which will help the business session be more effective for both the sellers and buyers. The focus is on emphasising quality of interactions,” he added.

Sunil Kumar, President, United Federation of Travel Agents Associations (UFTAA), revealed that UFTAA’ Golden Jubilee Congress will be held on November 21-23, 2016. “The board wants to do it on the same day as the anniversary which is on November 22 and there are no major shows happening around that time. We have also closed on the venue but we will announce it only later as we are still watching the situation there. It will be held outside India,” Kumar said. UFTAA will also be getting ready for the Passenger Agency Conference (PAConf) that will take place in September in Singapore, he added.  

The National Green Tribunal’s order to deregister diesel vehicles older than 10 years in Delhi and NCR will not have a major impact on tourism, says Krishan Dutt Yadav, President, Indian Tourist Transporters Association (ITTA). “There will be no significant impact on tourism with this ban as most of the taxis that we operate for tourists have a life of maximum nine years and are generally changed after five years. However the actual problem is the sluggish procedure for reissuance of national permits after five years. There is no clarification on the reissuance of these permits which leaves the taxis and heavy duty vehicles dysfunctional,” Dutt says. According to media reports, the NGT order to deregister diesel vehicles older than 10 years in Delhi and NCR could take away 70 per cent of the goods carriage fleet of the capital and nearly 90 per cent of its private chartered buses. Besides, around 11,500 buses would have to be deregistered. That’s 88% of the 13,000 diesel buses registered with the department. Earlier this year, the court had allowed diesel vehicle owners to get an NOC and dispose of their vehicles. However, whether this would still be applicable to the vehicles nearing 10 years or not needs to be clarified, officials said. According to figures with the transport department, there are 2.82 lakh diesel vehicles in Delhi which will be impacted by the NGT order. Of these, 1.61 lakh are private vehicles.

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) concluded its national elections on June 30 in Ahmedabad and the new team thus elected will take over office from today. The unopposed Office Bearers include Praveen Chugh as the President, Pradip Lulla as the new Vice President, Aditi Bhende as Secretary and Jayesh Tharani as Treasurer. Zakkir Ahmed is now the Immediate Past President. The seven Committee Members for whom the elections were held include: Basheer Ahmed, Darshan Shah, Rajat Bagaria, Urvashi Gupta, Bharat Shah, Teddy Thomas and Sanjay Gupta. All of them have been re-elected except for Bharat Shah who replaces Jayesh Tharani as the Managing Committee Member.

With the British pound taking a hard hit as the UK voted to leave the European Union, the fall by over 8 per cent to Rs 91.36 within a day is expected to increase India’s outbound traffic to the UK. Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), says that it will mainly benefit Indian travellers who are immediately travelling to the nation. “The outbound surge will be momentary – outbound tourism will increase till the GDP remains low. But things are very unpredictable as of now due to the uncertain circumstances,” he said.