Category Archives: Agents

Our aim for Moving Forward Team is to think big: Rajiv Mehra, contesting for IATO President

Sharing the aim and vision of the team Moving Forward for the upcoming IATO Elections scheduled on 6th March in Delhi, Rajiv Mehra, the current Vice President and the candidate for President for the next term said that his aim is to think big and not lure our members with small petty benefits.” We are going to work for revival of business for our esteemed membership. The need of the hour is to think lateral & logical with paramount aim focus on the revival of our businesses and ignore the petty issues. We are confident that our members are intelligent enough to choose the best team,” he said in a meet and greet event organised for travel trade media in Delhi. The short term and long-term Agenda of the team is as under:- To continue to follow up with Ministry of Finance/Commerce/DGFT regarding the release of SEIS Scrips for 2019-20. To get SEIS for the tour operators for the next 5 years by getting it included in Foreign Trade Policy 2021-25 with the easy terms and conditions suitable to our members. To remove the requirement of minimum Rs. 2 crores turnover of foreign exchange earnings in MDA Guidelines for overseas promotion so that all our members can be benefited. To get relaxation in qualification for MoT Recognition by adding diploma/certificate of Tourism & Hospitality Skill Council To request Ministry of Tourism to start marketing and promotions by organising roadshows, participation in international travel marts, organise fam trips for FTOs etc., as soon as the restriction on e-Visa is removed and international flights start operating, To get the IATO website linked with the MOT website so that members can receive queries/leads. …

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TAAI UP Chapter to mentor tourism students from Avadh University in Ayodhya

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) is doing its bit to encourage the youth to join the industry. TAAI’s UP Chapter recently signed an MoU with the Department of Business Management, Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University in Ayodhya to offer training, placements and even internship to students of MBA in Tourism Management. The MoU has been signed for three years.

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Tourism Leaders Club calls for peaceful campaign on February 5

“Tourism is the face of any nation. If the services are badly delivered, it will tarnish a nation’s face before the global population. And India being one destination known for its culture, tradition and hospitality, has its positioning because of the human element that delivers in hospitality. Unfortunately, our governments forgot to take care of the most boasted 55 million tourism industry people in India during last 10 months of suffering,” says a statement released by Tourism Leaders Club, whose President & Founder is Amesh Daftary and General Manager is Prakash Visani. The release says that a “peaceful protest campaign” has been planned by the Indian tourism fraternity on February 5, maintaining all COVID protocols of social distancing, mask and sanitiser. The statement also mentions, “Many are at the edge of breakage. Many are no more in tourism. This was so unjust from the ruling governments to discard such a dedicated selfless community which served the Nation’s progress. When all other sectors revived, Tourism is still not back and the governments didn’t even bother to take an account of job losses or business losses. It’s time for us to show our protest towards the inaction of Governments. Let us unite and show our integrity towards our own livelihood industry. Please join the campaign and make it a grand success.” “As it’s a pan India protest campaign,” the release adds, “our members at different destinations of India are requested to conduct similar cultural processions with their respective regional art forms to support the move. Our slogan will be ‘Tourism Lives Matter – Save Indian Tourism’. Our Demands for survival: GST Holiday for Two years for Tourism Rehabilitate tourism employees who lost …

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They don’t care for the tourism industry anymore: Deepak Narula

Indicating a deep sense of dismay, Deepak Narula, Managing Director, GRN Connect, says, “This sector is one of the last ones to start its revival process and it needed a strong thrust from the government at such a critical time. But it has chosen to ignore us yet again. It seems like they don’t care for the tourism industry anymore. We are sorely disappointed yet again.”  

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It is indeed an Atmanirbhar Budget: Harmandeep Singh Anand

Expressing his views on Budget exclusively with TravTalk, Harmandeep Singh Anand, MD, Jagsons Travels & Co-founder, GPS, says, “It is pointless to follow the Budget. In most instances it does not deliver much for the tourism industry. Somewhere down the line, the implication will be on the end consumer in the form of a cess. Why we are still expecting big things from our Union Budget. The government has clearly said be ‘Atmanirbhar’ and this time it was indeed an Atmanirbhar Budget,”

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Not one suggestion has been looked into or considered in Budget: TAFI

Pradeep Lulla, Acting President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) shared his comments on the Budget and says, “This year’s Budget is very disappointing, specially for the tourism sector. We had collectively put across many suggestions to the Ministry of Tourism. Unfortunately, not one suggestion has been looked into or considered. The fiscal deficit which is 9.5 is quite large and some sort of allocation to tourism should have been given.”    

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Need uniform GST, ease of doing business from Budget: TAAI

Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) hopes the government will consider its suggestions for good governance and ease of doing business for the travel trade. Sharing her expectations on Budget, Jyoti Mayal, President of TAAI, says, “We believe the Budget 2021 should be focused more on spendings to enable economic growth,  what better area to spend in than tourism to generate more cash flow and earnings to enable enhancement of infrastructure.” She adds, “We have already appealed for have a uniform GST across India whereby input tax credits can be taken for services utilised across the country. The GST for tour operators should be at 1.8% with full setoff, being 18% on an average margin of 10%. Interstate credit of GST are not available to travel agents and tour operators on IGST and the same should be considered at par which shall not only benefit the corporates but the consumers are large. The similar being with airlines on the point of departure.” We are expecting the FM to ensure LTC benefits not utilised this year due to the pandemic should be permitted to be carried forward in the coming 2 years. Further to boost the economy all expenses made for travel, tourism, MiCE, adventure, domestic and religious travel, by the tax payer should be fully exempt from income tax for the next 2 years, states Mayal. The FM should also ensure 10% SIES credit to be adjusted completely under income tax. To ensure growth in tourism and all incomes from foreign exchange earnings should be given a tax holiday for a period of 2 years. TCS too to should be rescinded as it serve no purpose of tax collect and …

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Karvat Group takes over India business, launches new venture

In a strategic move, the Karvat Group has taken over the reins of the travel ancillary business, and will hereon steer its business in India with sole proprietorship. Dev Karvat will take on the ownership of the entire group’s operations in India as CEO. He says, “The company’s commitment towards the travel trade is as persistent as ever. We are thankful to the Cover-More Group for enriching our experience with their global expertise. We will be happy to welcome them back to India in the future. We are now focusing on India-centric offerings. I am happy to share the launch of a new venture – Asego.”

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New Delhi, Mumbai account for more than 50% of tourism job postings

Of all the hiring in 2020, metro cities of New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai accounted for nearly half of the job postings on Indeed. Maximum aspirants for these jobs, however, emerged  from Jalandhar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, and Lucknow. This was an interesting departure from the top cities in 2019 where job seekers looked for hospitality and tourism jobs, namely popular tourism hubs before the pandemic set in such as Goa, Panchkula, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Delhi.

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