Tag Archives: President

Praveen Chugh of Business Travels has been elected unopposed to the post of President of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI). His nomination was proposed by Sheraton Travels and seconded by Golden Phoenix Travel. The last date for receiving nominations for this year’s TAFI national elections, held biennially,  was 1700 hours on June 15, 2016. He previously held the post of Vice President, TAFI. After examining the nominations that were received by the TAFI Secretariat in Mumbai, a list of names have been announced of those who have been elected unopposed and those who will be contesting the elections on June 30 at Hyatt Regency in Ahmedabad. Rajat Bagaria, previous Member of TAFI National Managing Committee, said, “Zakkir Ahmed will now be the Immediate Past President of TAFI. He has been our President for two continuous terms that is four years and will continue to be part of the MC meetings.”

Announcing the debut of its convention dedicated to India’s nightlife, Riyaaz Amlani, President, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), revealed that it will be held at St. Regis in Mumbai from July 17-18, 2016. It will be the first platform specifically designed to bring together and recognise the various stakeholders of one of India’s most vibrant and fastest-growing industry – nightlife. The event is a joint initiative of Kickstart Entertainment and NRAI. “The two-day convention will have multiple business sessions with speakers from the sector from across India. This will include three international speakers as well. We are also looking to get attendance from the government, including the Ministry of Tourism, Home and Excise because we don’t fall under any single ministry. We are also inviting someone from the Government of Maharashtra since it is happening in Mumbai. We want them to listen to our problems and see that this is a serious industry.”

Four members of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Managing Committee met in Mumbai yesterday to review  applications received by the association from its members for the Joint Bank Guarantee (JBG) Scheme. Sunil Kumar, President, TAAI, said, “We have received over 130 applications from members who are keen to join the guarantee.” Among the Office Bearers present were Marzban Antia, TAAI’s Vice President; Lokesh Bettaiah, TAAI’s Secretary General; and Imtiaz Qureshi, TAAI’s MC member who looks after Legal. Bettaiah added, “We are scrutinising each and every application received from 20 regions and chapters across India and the TAAI auditors will come out with a final list by May 20. After that, we will send them to IATA who will conduct their own verifications. We do multi-level checks and follow stringent procedures, which take a lot of time. It’s a huge responsibility on us to pick the right members. We will need to submit these applications to IATA by July 1, 2016. There has been a good response for it this year. TAAI has been successful in managing this scheme earlier as well and lot of members have benefitted from this scheme monetarily as well as for smoother day-to-day business as far as capping issues are concerned. If anyone else is interested to join, they can do so the following year.”

Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) says, “The terror attacks are a sad incident and will impact tourism in Europe temporarily. This will not be a long term effect if precautionary measures are taken and the damage is contained timely. Travellers will continue to travel despite fear and worry regarding Europe. As this is the beginning of the season and Europe is one of the most popular destinations amongst Indians, challenges may be faced by agents in terms of FIT and group movements.”

The ninth edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) will be held at Samudrika and Sagara Convention Centre, Willingdon Island from September 28 to 30 and will focus on themes ‘Responsible tourism’ and ‘Muziris and Spice Route’. It is expected to attract around 1,500 buyers from around the country and abroad. Around 265 stalls of different sizes for the exhibitors within Kerala will be featured at the venue as part of the event. Abraham George, President, Kerala Travel Mart Society, says, “KTM 2016, which will coincide with ‘World Tourism Day’, will reach out to buyers from new international markets, emphasizing focus on the new arenas of tourism, including responsible tourism, and popularize the concept among the common man. To facilitate better interaction between buyers and sellers, we have initiated the process for sellers’ registration much in advance. The buyers’ registration is open till July 29. The mart will be a platform for B2B networking.”  

The Delhi Government is going to rationalise taxes in the tourism sector and major announcement regarding this can be expected in the upcoming Delhi Budget 2016-17, said Kapil Mishra, Delhi Tourism Minister. He also revealed that the Government is working on a major Delhi Festival, a 15 day long cultural event in Delhi to be held in the month of November on the lines of Dubai Festival. The Delhi Government will start major destination branding activity this year as well. “We have completely changed our event organising policy and are also planning 10 smart streets which will be made into tourist hubs in the city. We are revamping all monuments. This year a massive and aggressive Delhi branding will be launched. We are working on rationalising the taxes and this budget will bring good news for the industry,”  he said while addressing the HRANI Conclave on February 27, 2016 at Le Meridien, New Delhi. The HRANI Conclave addressed issues of hoteliers and restaurateurs of Delhi and put across suggestions to the Delhi Tourism Minister. Luv Malhotra, President, HRANI, said, “There are three primary issues which we are addressing with the Tourism Minister at an open forum. The Luxury tax levied is a major issue. The exorbitant charges on environment tax which we have to pay as restaurateurs and hoteliers for which discussions are on in the court and ease of doing business are other issues.” Malhotra mentioned that as of present the industry requires 40 odd  licences, certifications and clearances to function which are only 5 when compared to countries like China and Malaysia. The Minister further added that the Government is keen to work closely with the Tourism and Hospitality industry to …

Highly dissatisfied with the Union Budget,  Sunil Kumar, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), says tourism has been again been put on the back burner. “It is a big tragedy for an industry that has so much to offer many countries of the world. Wonder when India will consider this industry as an important economic success strategy.” Kumar reiterates that the budget does not meet up to the expectations of the industry, which has been projecting innovation with wide reforms and a more dynamic India. “There were expectations on Service Tax reliefs; boost to tourism sector; incentives for foreign exchange earnings, and these appear to have missed out. The income tax relief should have been on most classes, but is only done for lower slabs. The focus on Voluntary Disclosure is not too strategic and may not yield good results. Whatever must happen in the areas of travel, tourism and aviation, will not be dependent on this budget at all. In fact, the new 0.5% cess is going to add liability to all. The new budget has hardly any positive impact on our industry, which is sad,” he says. “For Travel industry to grow, especially during a time when the challenges are too many and the industry does require a boost, government must address the issues concerned, including sustainability. For this industry being a very large employer of people and generator of huge revenues for government in the form of taxes, government’s attention is rather disappointing,” Kumar added. Unless the government firmly reviews the challenges of all stakeholders in this industry, it will not be able to support the growth that is available in plenty. The TAAI President says …

Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), says the only positive point in the Budget is making non-functional airports operational. “It is a very neutral budget, and there is nothing in it for the tourism industry. The only positive point is that the government is considering making non-functional airports operational, which would give a boost to inbound tourism. However, nothing substantial is there for the travel industry,” he says.

Jyoti Kapur, President, ADTOI, says, “With the Finance Minister talking about old airstrips to be developed, we believe that it would result in boosting domestic and inbound tourism. With the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat scheme, now in full swing the connectivity to remote areas will increase, and it looks like a positive approach for attracting tourists to destinations in India beyond just pilgrimage sites. Also, in the budget, the government has sanctioned a huge amount for developing infrastructure and Swacch Bharat, and we believe that this too will boost tourism within the country. Cleanliness is a huge issue in India and if that is tackled, it will do wonders for tourism. It is still to be seen how the government is going to initiate these programs. However, since nothing has been done about the taxes plaguing the industry, we are a bit disappointed. Domestic tourism in India is suffering despite the rupee being weak, owing to poor infrastructure, higher taxes and connectivity. While two of these things have been addressed, we would’ve been happier had the taxes been rationalised.

Reacting on the General Budget 2016-17, Bharat Malkani, President, FHRAI, said, “The hospitality industry has not been acknowledged in the budget. We reserve our further comments till we have evaluated the notifications of the Budget, which we understand will be out shortly.”