IATO discusses tourism growth
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The 29th annual convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators kick-started with a colourful start on 8
September with a record 1,496 delegates at the Le Meridien Hotel in Kochi, Kerala.
The convention with the theme: Tourism – Innovation and Partnership was inaugurated by Kerala’s Chief Minister Oommem Chandy, along with Minister of State (IC) for Consumer Affairs in India, K V Thomas, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, K C Venugopal, Kerala’s Tourism Minister P Anil Kumar and other senior officials.
In his Presidential address, Subhash Goyal, President of IATO talked about the this year’s convention theme “Indian Tourism – Innovations and Partnerships”. Indian Tourism needs special efforts to have visa relaxation, improved infrastructure, look for new markets like Brazil and Africa etc. Air connectivity and budget hotels are the need of the hour to make India competitive. Tourism alone can solve India’s problems of Foreign Exchange Balance of Payment, Current Account Deficit (CAD), Employment and Poverty Eradication.”
Thoughts highlighted at the convention
“We have listed steps being taken to improve the bottlenecks in the tourism sector. A helpline will soon be in place in 10 different languages to provide assistance to tourists. The Visa on Arrival scheme will also be extended to other countries,” Usha Sharma, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism.
“Community and people involvement is a must to make the Public Private Partnership model successful,” pointed Jose Dominic , Managing Director, CGH Earth, of the Casino Group.
“A greater cooperation between India and Sri Lanka is required. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kerala Tourism should also be revived,” Nishantha Wickremasinghe, Chairman of Sri Lankan Airlines.
“The role of the government is to formulate policy, develop infrastructure and conduct promotions, and leave the actual running to the private sector,” Vipul Mittra, Principal Secretary, Gujarat.
“Indian agents should make full use of Linkedin and other social media, making it their essential tools of marketing and development. Treat every single visitor to the country as your sales person. Results of even new photos on the net by the users could do wonders. Social media is an asset of your business,” said Philip Calvert, Social Media Expert from UK.
J &K proposes to host next IATO convention
The state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has proposed to host the next annual convention of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO).
The state’s Tourism Minister, G A Mir has invited the association to host the next convention in Kashmir which will help boost tourism in the state. Talking at the 29th annual convention in Kochi, Mir said, “Tourism has increased from 30,000 arrivals in 2004 to about two crore visitors. All the three regions – Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh we being developed and infrastructure was being added with Central assistance.”
Mir has asked the agents to promote new areas such as Manasbal, Yusmarg, Daksum, apart from Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam. The houseboats and Wazwan food are also great attractions in Kashmir. Jammu is predominantly famous for destinations like Patnitop, Mansar and Kishtwar.
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