Tag Archives: Rajiv Mehra

Rajiv Mehra, Vice- President, IATO, shares that in the all association meeting with the minister recently, they suggested that once the number of COVID cases come down and the government decides to welcome international tourists, IATO must be consulted to make the policy for e-tourist Visa. “The e-tourist visas should be free until 31st March, 2022 to attract tourism. Then from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2024, the visa fee should not be more than $10 for a one-year visa and not more than $25 for a five-year visa,” he shared.

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 mutual agreement with Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) to benefit the travel trade, IndiGo is set to provide special extra baggage rates exclusively for IATO members. Keeping in view the free baggage allowance of 23 kgs allowed by international airlines into India, IndiGo has agreed to extend special prepaid excess baggage rates for the members of IATO, when they are handling foreign tourists on the airline’s domestic network. During the IATO Interactive Luncheon Meeting organised in Delhi, Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, IATO informed, “With reference to our meetings and points discussed with IndiGo, we are pleased to extend this facility to all our members. Tourists can avail 8 kg of extra baggage for a special rate of Rs 1000. Likewise for 15 kg extra baggage, they can avail the facility by paying just Rs 1500. By informing the concerned authority before 72 hours of date of travel, IATO members can avail this facility.” The bimonthly IATO luncheon meeting was aimed at discuss key issues about the association’s activities and its deliberations on future event. On the occasion, IATO invited Ashwani Lohani, Former CMD, Indian Railways Board and former CMD, Air India to bid farewell to him, who superannuated from his services on December 31, 2018. Mehra also shared details about the celebration of IATO Annual Day on February 17, 2019 at Heritage Village Resort & Spa, Manesar.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has recently announced the theme for its 34th Annual Convention as ’20 Million Tourists: Challenges & Possibilities’, to be held in Visakhapatnam from September 6-9, 2018. While announcing the theme, Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, IATO said, “The theme has been finalised after consideration from the Ministry of Tourism. We will hold discussions on it and will try to look how we can achieve this target. A session will be held on hotels and airlines during the convention. The theme has been finalised by the Executive Committee.” The association has already announced the governing body for the convention. While Rajiv Mehra has been appointed as the Chairman, Rajesh Mudgil, Hony Secretary, IATO has been appointed as Co-Chairman. Amaresh Tiwari has been named as Convener for IATO Run for Responsible Tourism. The venue of the convention is Hotel Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach. Talking about IATO’s activities in last one month, Mehra said, Mehra said, “We conducted a roadshow to the US with Ministry of Tourism where 25 active members of IATO participated. We also concluded IATO’s Chapter Meeting in Mumbai, attended by Hony Secretary Rajesh Mudgil.”

The Indian Association of Tour Operators held its election on April 28, 2018 and announced the new team for the 2018-20 period. The returning officer for the election was Akshay Kumar, Vice Chairman, Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH). Pronab Sarkar has been re-elected as the President unopposed, while Rajiv Mehra was also re-elected as the Vice President unopposed. Ravi Gosain is the new Treasurer and Rajnish Kaistha is the new Joint Secretary, both of whom were elected unopposed too. The voting was conducted for the position of Senior Vice President, Honorary Secretary as well as EC Members in the EC active and allied category. Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO said, “We are glad that the members have chosen us to represent them at IATO. The new team has a few new members and I am sure they will bring new ideas to be implemented to build a better working atmosphere in the association. I congratulate the new team and welcome all of them to work for the members together.”

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has finalised the Chairman and Co-chairman of their convention scheduled from September 7-10, 2017 at The Mayfair Convention Centre in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, IATO, is the Chairman, while Lally Matthews, Hon. Secretary, IATO, has been designated as the Co-Chairman for the convention. On their planning for the convention, Mehra said, “We are looking forward to an excellent convention, and discuss various issues like GST, role of social media, as well as how to get leads through websites and developing websites. Through sessions, we will be working towards the ultimate aim of telling our members how to grow their business. We are choosing topics through which we can do something for our medium and small sized operators.” Matthews, on the other hand, said, “Right now we are trying to get the registrations started. Also, we are waiting for the GST roll out, so that the hotel rates can be finalised under the new regime.”