Category Archives: Associations

Jyoti Mayal has been announced as the new TAAI President for the term 2019- 2021. Jay Bhatia, Tulsidas Khimji Holidays has been appointed as Vice President (Unopposed); Bettaiah Lokesh, Triway Travels has been elected as Hon. Secretary General and Shreeram Patel, Unicorn Travels has been elected as the Hon. Treasurer. Jyoti Mayal has been elected as the President of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) for the term 2019-21. This was announced on November 28, 2019 at Hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai after TAAI’s 68th Annual General Meeting followed by the elections of the Office Bearers and members of the Managing Committee for the term 2019 – 2021. While Jay Bhatia was elected as the Vice President unopposed, Bettaiah Lokesh from Triway Travels is the Honorary Secretary General. Shreeram Patel of Unicorn Travels has been elected for the post of National Treasurer.    Jyoti Mayal, incoming President, TAAI, says, “My most important agenda is that we should have a very strong say with the government and the airlines. That can only happen when we are recognised as an industry. We need a unified procedure set by the government as to how we should operate as an industry. We will be able to achieve this only when we have the government on our side. Taxes are another thing which is very relevant like GST and TCS and we are suffering because of that. We are already in negotiations with the ministries and we are very hopeful that we will achieve our targets. There is also another thing that is very close to my heart and that is empowering women. Women are multi-taskers and we would like more women in the industry to …

The 2nd edition of the PATA India Tourism PowerHouse, presented by the Inder Sharma Foundation will be held on December 6 at The PARK, New Delhi. Participants will get the opportunity to network, learn and interact with knowledge leaders and industry stalwarts and participate in engaging discussions on aviation capacity to India, impact of tourism, digital and destination marketing, The China opportunity and more.

Suman Billa will be joining United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) as Director, Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Development and will be based at the UNWTO headquarters in Spain, Madrid starting December. He had been serving as the Joint Secretary at Ministry of Tourism (MOT) for the last five years. He has also been the Tourism Secretary for Kerala before. A 1996 batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, Billa would be assuming charge at UNWTO next week and will be posted there for an initial period of two years. He has joined at D1 Level.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) is all set to elect its new Managing Committee (MC) for the term 2019-20 on November 28, 2019 at their 68th Annual General Meeting at Hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai. According to a circular, released by TAAI, the last date for filing nominations is November 14, and the nominations can be withdrawn by November 25, 2019, after which the final nominees will be announced.

Skål International India has opened its 14th Club under the name of Skål International Mysuru in the City of Palaces. Suresh Charles has been appointed as the President, Prashanth B is the Vice President and Sunaina Manerker as Secretary of Skål International Mysuru. Skal International Mysuru has been formed with 22 members, which consists of hoteliers, airlines, travel and tour operators, hotel management institutions and government agencies from Mysuru and surrounding areas of Coorg, Bandipur and Kabini. The Charter Night was hosted by The Grand Mercure Mysuru, where the Charter Document was handed over by Vijay Mohan Raj -Director -Skål International, Sanjay Datta – President Skål Asia and Ranjini Nambiar – President Skål International India. She also delivered the Presidential Chain & the Oath to newly elected Club President Suresh Charles. Sanjay Datta – President Skål Asia, also presented a Skål Asia standee and flag to Skål Mysuru, for display at all their meetings.

PATA India Chapter is organising its 8th Update and Outlook Meeting on 21 November which will have Meenakshi Sharma, DG, Tourism who will update the attendees on the initiatives and achievements of the Ministry and will also talk about India Tourism’s advanced website, and what it can do for the members’ and attendees’ business development efforts. The event will be held at Taj Palace, New Delhi. DG Tourism will also share details on MOT’s online Tourism Education & Tourist facilitator/guide program, and how it can be used for building a tourism friendly approach. Sharma would be updating on the progress and impact of Adopt a heritage program by MOT, and how it benefits PATA India Chapter members and the tourist. In addition, she will be taking up queries of the attendees. To confirm participation for the meeting, write to manager@pataindia.org latest by November 15, 2019.

NIMA has recently launched its Southern Region office in Vizag. K Vijay Mohan was nominated as the co-ordinator for the Southern Region. The Commissioner of Police, Vizag, Rajeev Kumar Meena graced the occasion. Former MLA Malla Vijay Prasad, Entrepreneur Pyda Krishan Prasad, Raja Babu of Sunray Resorts and Naresh Kumar were other dignitaries present during the launch.  NIMA’s National Coordinator Gajesh Girdhar, Rakesh Arora and Jagdeep Bhagat were present too. The State Chapters for Telangana with Siraj Ansari as it’s State Coordinator and Andhra Pradesh with Dheeraj Praharaju as it’s State Coordinator were also installed during the recent visit of NIMA’s National team to the region.

Considering the option of Joint Bank Guarantee for hotels and discussing its viability, Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India, says, “We are open to consider Joint Bank Guarantee option but it would require a prior and complete scrutiny and understanding of the JBG terms and conditions. For instance, the JBG  should be given by either the TA or a renowned association on behalf of the agent so that there is a guarantee for payments for the hotels and the TA can enjoy extended credit.” 

Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi, along with Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) organised a workshop for OTOAI members on Ramayana Trail, where Jeevana Fernando, Assistant Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLPB) gave a presentation on the Ramayana related sites in Sri Lanka to the attendees. The event was chaired by Austin Fernando, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India along with Mahendra Vakharia, President, OTOAI. The idea behind the workshop was to position Sri Lanka’s rich Ramayana heritage as a popular pilgrim package and to create awareness among the OTOAI members about locations of the Sri Lanka Ramayana Trail. The OTOAI members gave a positive response towards the workshop and discussed possible itineraries with Fernando for the same.

The 9th annual convention of Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), supported by Gujarat Tourism as host state, was inaugurated at Hyatt Regency Ahmedabad. Speaking at the ceremony, Vasan Aahir, Minister of State for Tourism, Gujarat, said, “We are very glad that ADTOI has brought their annual convention to Gujarat. Rann of Kutch is the ideal example where tourism has been a means for developing an undeveloped destination, while giving employment to many people. We are developing many destinations in a similar manner in Gujarat.” ADTOI also unveiled its new logo at the inauguration ceremony. PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, welcomed the delegates at the convention and felicitated the dignitaries, which included Pradipsinh Jadeja, Minister of State- Home, Energy, Parliamentary Affairs, Law, Justice (Minister of State), Police housing, Border security, Civil defense, Gram Rakshak Dal, Jail, Prohibition and Excise, Coordination between voluntary organization, Non Resident Gujarati Department, Protocol (all independent charge), Government of Gujarat; Aashima Mehrotra, Director, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; S.J. Haider, Principal Secretary, Gujarat Tourism; Jenu Devan, Managing Director, Gujarat Tourism; and Ashwani Lohani; CMD, Air India.