Sanjay Razdan
Razdan Holidays
As a simple member of the association, I would say that the leadership has failed us in more than many ways. This is the main reason that most members are disgruntled and frustrated.
Yes! I agree that the pandemic has been tough and would have been tough for the association as well. However, there is an old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. At times we need to think out of the box. This pandemic has mainly taught us that we must stay united. Now the question is, who should have taken the initiative in this direction? In my opinion, it’s the prime duty of any association leadership to interact with the members on a regular basis. If there is a problem, where would we go? In any tough time, the leadership must call regular meetings via zoom, etc and talk to members and provide the much-needed solace. I remember the president of ATOAI used to call
zoom meetings regularly area-wise all over India. A small talk or just asking, “How are you?” makes a big difference.
This pandemic has no doubt has left all of us distraught, with no revenues for almost a year now. Most other businesses have re-started except tourism in general and Inbound Tourism in particular. As far as Razdan Holidays is concerned, we have used this free time to create new tours and discovered new areas and itineraries. At the same time, we have taken the initiative to educate our fellow DMC’s into areas which they would have never done otherwise. In October 2020, we organised the first educational FAM Trip to Himachal Pradesh, the first-ever four-wheel-drive expedition with 19 DMC’s from Delhi NCR to scale ‘ShinkuLa’ on 4x4 vehicles via the new architectural marvel ‘Atal Tunnel’.
Then, in January 2021, Razdan Holidays organised another educational FAM trip – the first-ever ‘Desert Trail Expedition’ in Rajasthan visiting Churu, Udaipurwati, and Samode. More than 50 percent route was over Desert Sand
Trails, Riverbeds, and unknown villages. The participants also indulged in Dune Bashing under expert guidance. As I am myself an expert off-roader having expertise in driving 4x4 cars, the idea was to impart some special skills to my friends. These trips also opened new areas and new itineraries for promotion and these DMC’s can sell in the future to their clients. For me, it was like giving back something to the industry. As far as the readiness is concerned, we are absolutely ready and impatiently waiting for foreign tourists to come back. We will of course welcome them with renewed vigour, energy and love.
With God’s grace and support of friends and wellwishers in IATO, if elected, our team under the guidance of Lally Mathews has many plans for the benefit of members. To start with we would want to achieve all the points as mentioned in our manifesto. We want to make IATO member-friendly, easily approachable, and accountable on all fronts. For us, IATO is ‘For Members and Of Members’.