Tag: IATO

Tourism and hospitality industry hardly finds sufficient support from the Government, even when it is needed the most. Industry’s disenchantment in the wake of the neglect is not the first time: travel, tourism and hospitality sectors in India, despite having significant socio-economic contribution, get recurrent shocks of the negligence from the authorities much more often than other sectors. Akin to the global tourism sector, India’s leisure and recreation sector got shattered by the effects of the global pandemic. Yet, unlike in many other locations in the world, this sector got hurt deeply by the apathy of the authorities in offering ... Read more

The long-postponed and much-awaited elections for the Indian Association of Tour Operators IATO elections were held on 06 March’21. The elections initially were scheduled to be held in April 2020 but could not be conducted due to COVID-19. IATO is one of the largest travel bodies in India and hence the elections always generated much interest, and this year all the industry is going through one of the worst crises in history, and the question of survival and revival looming large. The outgoing Vice President of IATO, Rajiv Mehra of Uday Tours & Travels was up against Lally Mathews of ... Read more

A meeting was called on 1st February 2021 at 3 pm at the IATO office for scrutinizing the withdrawal of nominations for the forthcoming IATO Elections to be held on 6th March 2021. After withdrawal and rejection, the final list of contestants were shared and circulated by the returning officer Homa Mistry. FOR PRESIDENT 1.         Mr. Lally Mathews, Divine Voyages Pvt. Ltd. 2.         Mr. Rajiv Mehra, Uday Tours & Travels Pvt. Ltd. FOR SR. VICE PRESIDENT 1.         Mr. E.M. Najeeb, Air Travel Enterprises (I) Ltd. 2.         Mr. Sarab Jit Singh, Travelite (India) FOR VICE PRESIDENT 1.         Mr. Lajpat Rai, Lotus ... Read more

The tourism and travel industry of India was among the worst-hit industries since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The industry has pinned great hopes on the union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. Soon after the budget presentation, the tourism industry was more or less unanimous in saying that the budget has not lived up to the expectations of the industry. While some appreciated the steps to strengthen infrastructure, the majority was disappointed for the fact that no immediate relief was provided for the revival of the ailing industry. Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH, said that ... Read more

As per unofficial reports, the elections for IATO (Indian Association of Tour Operators) new leadership will be held in the first half of March’21. The elections which were initially finalised for 25 APR 2020 however had to be called off due to the lockdown announced by the central government in view of the pandemic. The nomination submission and the scrutiny were already over however the withdrawal of nominations and the further procedures are still pending. As per sources the present committee of IATO had conducted a meeting last week in the presence of Mr. Homa Mistry, the newly appointed returning ... Read more

Tourism industry body IATO has urged the government to provide immediate relief to the tourism sector, which has been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the tour operators have been forced to lay off their staff, many have sent staff on furlough and those who are remaining are getting less than 30%, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) said in a statement. In light of this, IATO has sought various relief measures from the government. This includes one-time financial grant of the gross salaries amount paid to the staff of tour operators on the basis of the ... Read more

Representatives from the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) met Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel on Wednesday, to apprise him of the acute distress faced by the industry. The delegation urged the minister for financial support to tour operators so that they are not forced to close down their business, IATO said in a statement. The tour operators are not in a position to pay salaries to their staff since there is no business and they are under acute financial stress, it added. IATO has also asked for special collateral free and interest free long-term loans (5-10 years) to ... Read more

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has written to Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal and Tourism minister Prahlad Singh Patel urging the government to take various steps to protect the travel industry. In his letter IATO President Pronab Sarkar said, “We hope that the tourism industry which is the most affected sector due to Covid -19, will get considerable relief from the government both for survival and revival.” As result of the pandemic, the travel & hospitality industry in India is in dire straits today. There are nil revenues and almost all tourism businesses are running out of ... Read more

IATO Convention 2018 The 35th convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) is scheduled to be held in Kolkata from September 12-15, said Rajesh Mudgill,  Secretary, IATO. Further details will be announced in due course of time, he informed. “The 35th convention will likely be organised in Kolkata. We had some deliberations regarding the dates but things are almost finalised now. We are looking make this convention much bigger and better,” said Mudgill. The upcoming monthly luncheon meeting of the association, scheduled on July 10 at The Oberoi, Delhi will be followed by the Executive committee meeting, where ... Read more

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has appointed Rahul Chakravarty as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) to enlarge the scope and area of operations in the 1600-member body. Rahul Chakravarty, who took over the charge of office on April 1, 2019, has extensive experience in the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) where he looked after tourism for 15 years. Gour Kanjilal, who was the Executive Director of IATO for the past 14 years, has resigned recently. The IATO leadership is confident that Rahul, with his vast experience in tourism, will help the organization to grow.  

Photo for representative purpose only In an effort to empower women and create an awareness about how women can succeed in hospitality industry, The Uday Samudra Groupl, Kovalam, in association with the major hospitality organizations, conduct the first ever International Waitress Race on the occasion of the International Women’s Week. It was announced by the organizers at a press meet in Thiruvananthapuram. The Race will be held on March 13, 2019 at Vellar Kovalam. Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran will flag off the race an 4 pm. The winners will receive cash awards and certificates The race is expected to encourage women ... Read more

The fifth edition of International Mountain Cycling Contest has concluded at Wayanad in Kerala on December 8. MTB Kerala-2018 has concluded at the Priyadarshini Tea Estate in Mananthavady. The event was organized by Kerala Tourism, in association with Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society and Wayanad District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC), is supported by Cycling Federation of India. Apart from contestants from India, cyclists from 11 foreign countries have also participated in the event. The categories include: International Cross Country Competition (Men), National Cross Country Competition (Men), and National Cross Country Competition (Women). “Fifth edition of the MTB has been the ... Read more

The fifth edition of International Mountain Cycling Contest to be held at the hilly district of Wayanad in Kerala on December 8. MTB Kerala-2018 will be held at the Priyadarshini Tea Estate in Mananthavady. The logo of the event was released by Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran by handing it over to E M Najeeb, Senior Vice-President of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO). Tourism Additional Director Raghudasan, Cycling Federation of India Treasurer Jayaprakash, Magazine editor of Tourism India, Ravi Shankar and KATPS CEO Manesh Bhaskar were also present at the event. The event organized by Kerala Tourism, in association with Kerala ... Read more

While Kerala is bouncing back from the havoc caused by the recent heavy rain and devastating flood, discussions are on regarding the rebuilding of Kerala with a new vision, than just mend the damages. Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala, has put forth the concept of a ‘Nava Kerala’ (New Kerala), while re-constructing the state and invited opinions and suggestions from people from all walks of life. E M Najeeb, President of Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry and Senior Vice President of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), has shared his views on rebuilding Kerala, with Tourism News Live. Being ... Read more

Amaravati, Capital City of Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh, after separated from Telangana, has been depending more on the tourism sector for employment generation and to stimulate economic growth. “The state government is taking all steps to strengthen the infrastructure for tourism development,” said Himanshu Shukla, CEO of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority and the Managing Director of AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC). He was addressing the gathering at the annual convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), which began at Visakhapatnam on Thursday, 7th September 2018. “We have no doubt it will give a great boost to the tourism ... Read more