Tag Archives: IATO

IATO has taken a delegation of 22 members to Pahalgam & Srinagar, as part of its ‘Rubaroo with J&K’ initiative with an idea to revive tourism in the valley after the unfortunate terror attack some time back. In fact, LG, J&K has announced the reopening of many destinations in Pahalgam.

To enhance tourism between India and Nepal, a Memorandum of Association (MoU) was signed between the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) and Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA) in Kathmandu.

Outlining his vision to expand the association’s global footprint by forging partnerships with international tourism boards and organisations, Ravi Gosain, President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), said, “We want IATO to grow into a truly international organisation. Whenever anyone is looking to do business with India, they should consider our members as their first choice.”

To enhance bilateral cooperation in promoting tourism between India and the Maldives, IATO and The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025 in Dubai. It marks a significant step towards strengthening tourism ties between the two countries. The MOU provides for joint promotional activities facilitating closer collaboration between the travel industries of both the nations. The MoU underscores the shared commitment of MMPRC and IATO to boost visitor exchanges, improve travel connectivity, and create new opportunities for sustainable tourism development in the region. According to Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO “There is a huge scope for boosting tourism flow between India and Maldives. Such pacts I believe would significantly help us improve tourism ties thus contributing to employment generation and boosting local economies.”  

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) elections will be held on 10 May, 2025 at The Ashok Hotel in New Delhi. The elections will be conducted for the post of President and new Executive Committee Members. The next elected President will replace Rajiv Mehra, current President, IATO.

IATO will host its 40th Annual Convention from 22-25 August 2025 at Swosti Premium Beach Resort, Puri, Odisha. The three-day event is expected to welcome 900-1000 delegates, including industry leaders and government officials. The theme and other logistics are being finalised and will be announced soon, said Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO.

At the IATO Annual Day (Carnival), Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, emphasised the need to boost tourism circuits, noting that 50 circuits have been announced. “If even 10 circuits attract visitors, it will be a big win. Our goal is to urge the government to implement its plans and turn vision into reality,” he said.

With the allocation for Incredible India campaigns abroad cut down drastically, Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, said, “The government announced to develop 50 destinations this year but we are yet to see any progress in the projects announced in 2023. We have no idea what will happen with earlier announcements. But a decrease in promotional activities overseas will impact tourism activities.”

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO showed dismay on the budget allocation of a mere ₹ 3 crores made to the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India for overseas promotion and marketing in the Union Budget announced by the Finance Minister on 1 February 2025. “It is shocking that the budget of ₹ 33 cr has been reduced to ₹ 3 cr. Infact the earlier allocated budget of ₹ 33 cr was also miniscule and not enough for overseas promotions and publicity,” he said. Mehra said, “It is really surprising that on one side the Government is extolling the contribution of the tourism sector for its contribution in economic growth of the country and employment generation and on other hand the government is just allocating a peanut budget of ₹ 3 crores for promoting the country abroad. As a result, the Ministry of Tourism, would not be able to participate and set up India Pavilion in any of the International Travel and Tourism Marts, nor would the Ministry be able to do any overseas publicity and conduct any overseas road shows. This has been happening post covid every year where the Ministry of Tourism has to approach the Ministry of Finance to get approval/sanction for participation in any overseas travel mart/fair. This has led to reduced participation of tourism stakeholders in such marts leading to poor travel promotion and marketing.  In comparison, countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Mauritius etc. set up big Tourism Pavilion in international markets which give them ample opportunities to increase inbound tourism to their respective countries. Our government needs to understand that without showcasing our country’s Tourism products in Global Travel Mart and events it is very difficult …

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO, has announced that they are working on a new website for the association, which will be launched by the end of January or February. “To promote India overseas, we have revamped our website, which will have more packages.” he said while speaking at the IATO Luncheon meet in Delhi.