Tag Archives: TAFI

Fourteen members of the Travel Agents Federation of India, Karnataka Chapter recently flew from Bengaluru to Sindhudurg’s Chipi airport with India’s youngest airline, FLY91, to explore the tourism and trade opportunities in south Maharashtra’s emerging travel destination. The three-day FAM trip to Sindhudurg was facilitated by FLY91. During the trip the agents toured various beaches surrounding Sindhudurg, like Chivala, Tarkarli and Devbag and explored water sports and cultural offerings in Maharashtra’s southernmost district. The TAFI-Karnataka delegation comprised of Shanthi Sony, managing partner of Sonys Travel Lines and secretary of TAFI-Karnataka, Sitesh Parekh, managing partner of Active Skylink Travels and treasurer of TAFI-Karnataka, Shekar G. Kandur, founder and managing partner at Flight Shop Holidays, among several others. According to Ashutosh Chitnis, Chief Revenue Officer, FLY91, “The delegation of travel agents registered with TAFI’s Karnataka chapter who were flown onboard FLY91 from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport to Chipi airport in Sindhudurg, was also given a tour of a popular cashew processing factory and introduced to local businessmen linked to the travel and tourism industries to explore exciting tourism offerings and experiential opportunities in Sindhudurg.” Competing with the tourism prowess of Goa, the neighbouring Maharashtra district is aspiring to be a popular beach tourism destination as well as a hub for the production of the popular Alphonso mangoes and a traditional food processing industry. With FLY91, India’s pure play airline, enhancing air connectivity to and from Sindhudurg’s Chipi airport to destinations like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, etc. The travel sector is keen to explore Maharashtra’s tourism-oriented district for touristic and trade-related opportunities.

Ajay Prakash, National President, TAFI, said, “Tourism is one of the biggest global industries and typically grows at a faster rate than GDP. Post-pandemic, Indian tourism has shown amazing resilience and recovery, especially in terms of outbound and domestic tourists. National Tourism Day is a day to celebrate the power of tourism to not only boost the economy, but to connect people across all boundaries. The two major challenges before the industry are geopolitics and climate change. Sustainability of the industry is a corollary of global peace and sustainability. On this National Tourism Day let us take a pledge to spread greater awareness of Tourism as a Force for Global harmony.”

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) will hold its national AGM as well as elections for the new term on September 2, 2023 in Mumbai. This will take place after all regional and chapter elections are over and new teams have been appointed. 

The new team of TAFI Northern India Chapter, which will serve for a term of two years from 2023 to 2025, consists of Khushvinder Sarna as Chairman, Dinesh Kumar as Secretary, Rajiv Agarwal as Treasurer, and Naveen Gupta and Charu Arora as Committee Members.

Reacting to the recent TCS amendment, Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, questioned, “If luxury car attracts only 1% TCS then why is travel fraternity victimized?” He added that the change will provide breather but won’t take away the fact that scheme was hastily implemented.

Sharing a concern of his members, Ajay Prakash, TAFI President, wrote to Kaushik Khona, CEO of Go First, requesting that the refunds for canceled flights be effected as a direct credit to the agents’ bank accounts, rather than being placed in a credit shell. He wrote, “It is not possible for them to refund the money until it is received from your airline. You do this and the entire travel agent fraternity will stand by you and completely support your airline as soon as it takes off again.”

Sharing a concern of his members, Ajay Prakash, TAFI President, wrote to Kaushik Khona, CEO of Go First, requesting that the refunds for canceled flights be effected as a direct credit to the agents’ bank accounts, rather than being placed in a credit shell. He wrote, “It is not possible for them to refund the money until it is received from your airline. You do this and the entire travel agent fraternity will stand by you and completely support your airline as soon as it takes off again.”

Sharing details of the business sessions during the upcoming TAFI convention in Kuching, Malaysia, Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, says, “We will explore the theme – Build Back Better – in detail during our knowledge sessions. We have invited speakers who have built back brands after Covid and who have re-invented their businesses so they can share their experience with everyone.”

TAFI convention delegates will be able to immerse themselves in a full-on Sarawak authentic experience with a tribal-inspired theme showcasing the best of its culture and gastronomical offerings. To be held for the first time in Kuching, Sarawak from 20-23 September, the TAFI convention will highlight Sarawak’s diverse ethnicities which comprise 28 ethnic tribes, all with their own unique traditions, lifestyles, music, food and handmade crafts. TAFI delegates will get to learn about Sarawak as an attractive multifaceted destination for the Indian market. Ajay Prakash, TAFI President, said, “Sarawak is a relatively unexplored destination for the Indian traveller. We anticipate that after the convention, our members will be inspired to promote tourism to this beautiful province since it can be a great venue for destination weddings, family travel and corporate events. We appreciate the support given by Sarawak Tourism Board, Business Events Sarawak, Tourism Malaysia and our Official Carrier, Malaysia Airlines.”

TAFI to host their convention in Kuching, Malaysia with 700 delegates from 20-23 September 2022. Exclusively for the members, it will have 550 TAFI members and 200 Malaysian delegates. “We want to educate the members, add value to the people who attend the convention and improve the business”, said Anil Kalsi, Joint Secretary, TAFI.