Tag Archives: President

Subhash Goyal, President, Confederation of Tourism Professionals, has said that the Government should announce immediately E-Tourist Visa and Scheduled International flights in the month of September/October. “The Tourist season to India is from October to March. While domestic tourism is helping a few hotels but people like Govt. recognized Tourist Guides, Tourist Transport Operators, Tourist Taxi Drivers pan India and small Tour Operators and Vendors are starving. We have to fulfil our Prime Minister’s dream of making India a 5 trillion dollar economy,” he said.

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) will finally hold its much-delayed national elections on July 24, 2021 via e-voting conducted on the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) platform. The following nine posts are open for election: President, Vice President, National General Secretary, Treasurer and five posts for Managing Committee Members.

In his discussion with the MOT, PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, has requested for inclusion of hotel charges in the MDA scheme for domestic tour operators. “The draft mentioned that for digital marketing or attending marts across India, this money would include cost of hotels, but in the final draft hotels were not included. Hence, we have requested the ADG to include hotels,” he said.

A number of FAITH association heads met with the new Cabinet Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, G. Kishan Reddy and welcomed him on his taking over the charge in his office. The delegation comprised of Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH; Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO & Hony. Secretary FAITH, Jyoti Mayal,  President, TAAI & Vice Chairman FAITH, P.P. Khanna, President, ADTOI & Board Member FAITH; and Ravi Gosain, Vice President, IATO. Members of the delegation assured full support to the Minister for the revival of tourism and sought similar support from him. The Minister assured all his support to the industry.

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.

Tour Operators Association of Telangana (TOAT), led by its President, Siraj Ahmed Ansari, has appealed to Srinivas Goud, Minister of Tourism, Telangana, seeking help from the government for revival and survival of the travel & tourism sector in the state. TOAT has raised several vital issues, including financial assistance for monthly allowance for employees of tourism and hospitality. TOAT is the first registered travel & tourism association of Telangana state, and one of the larger regional association with 400+ members.

Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), with probability of hotels not being able to reopen for two to three months more in the state, have asked for Rs. 5,000 to 6,000 as subsistence allowance for 1.4 lakh people directly employed in hotels and tour companies. “It won’t suffice to meet their needs, but at least it will be of some help,” said Nilesh Shah, President, TTAG.

PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, has said that since many of their members could not get vaccination, owing to shortage of vaccines, the association has tied up with hospitals to organise vaccination camps for its members on a pan-India basis. “This will be provided to members at a special rate. To elevate the financial burden on the members, we have decided to give a subsidy to all primary members by reimbursing 50% of what they spend on getting vaccinated, whether it’s the first shot or second shot or both, to the maximum limit of  Rs 600 for each shot within a period,” he adds.

The Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) has waived off the annual membership fee for the financial year 2021 – 22. The association has reduced the fees by 50% for the financial year 2020 – 2021. Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI said, “This is not the time to make money or fill up reserves. We understand the plight of our fellow industry colleagues and this gesture is our way of showing our solidarity to them. The outbound from India has been severely affected and it will indeed take a while before things go back to normal. The second wave has hit all businesses, especially tourism (which had started to pick a little in December / January) severely and different entry laws / requirements by different countries has made outbound travel very challenging. I would also like to urge people in the travel fraternity to get themselves vaccinated at the earliest possible so that whenever tourism opens, our customers do not hesitate reaching out to us and it will also send out a positive message to the world.”