The 36th IATO Annual Convention concludes on a high note

The 36th IATO Annual Convention was held at The Leela, Gandhinagar, from the 16th 19th of December 2021 and the Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel inaugurated the convention. IATO members from across India came to Gujarat to attend the 3-day event and more than 600 delegates participated. It was after about eighteen months that the tourism fraternity was under one roof to witness one of the biggest tourism conventions since the pandemic. The convention aimed to discuss the measures to revitalise the tourism sector after the COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild confidence among members and the tourism industry.

The highlight of the 36th Annual Convention of IATO was that it saw huge footfalls of officials from the Ministry of Tourism, GoI, officials from various state tourism departments, travel and hospitality stalwarts, and other dignitaries from across the country. This reflects involvement at a higher level for the future of tourism.

The convention received wholehearted support from Hareet Shukla, Secretary Tourism and Jenu Devan, Managing Director & Commissioner Tourism, Gujarat Government, and the team. Other top officials from MoT, such as Arvind Singh, Tourism Secretary, G Kamala Vardhan Rao, Director General Tourism, and Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General Tourism, also graced and supported the event.

The senior government officials from the Centre and state governments in the panel discussions and the valedictory session included Rakesh Kumar Verma, Additional Secretary Tourism; Rajiv Jalota, Chairman Mumbai Port Trust; Raj Muthuraj, Additional DG. Directorate General of Foreign Trade; S.K. Srivastava, Dept. of Forests & Environment, Government of Gujarat; Shilpa Gupta, Additional Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Board; Manoj Kumar. Managing Director, Jungle Lodges & Resort, Govt. of Karnataka; G.S. Itoo, Director Tourism Kashmir; Rajiv Jain, Addl. GM, IRCTC; Abhay Sinha, Director General, Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC).

Various business sessions were held during the three days, including the theme for the convention, ‘Brand India - The Road to Recovery for Revival of Business.’ Besides a bevy of speakers from government and state-run institutions, panellists included Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy & Revenue Officer, IndiGo; Nakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC Hotels & Chairman FAITH; Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO, IHCL;

Anuraag Bhatnagar, COO, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts; and Ajay Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts.

The business sessions held at the event gave rise to many new ideas for the development of the country’s tourism sector and the creation of Brand India. Interesting topics such as Hotels in the New Normal, Connectivity: New Frontiers, SEIS: New Policy under FTP 2021-2026, Responsible Tourism, Automation, Digital Marketing, Preparedness under New Normal, etc. were discussed in the sessions. Constructive outcomes emerged during the panel discussions, during one such business session “Hotels in the New Normal,” Taj Hotels announced the facilitation of a special Promo Code, using which IATO member tour operators and travel agents had access to special rates by Taj Hotels.

In between sessions, state representatives of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, and other states of India also gave their presentations.

At the convention, industry veterans Subhash Goyal, Chairman of STIC Travel Group, and Mahender Singh Vaghela, popularly known as Mike Vaghela, a tourism industry stalwart from Gujarat, were conferred the ‘Hall of Fame’ award by IATO, and the awards were given by Bhupendrabhai Patel, the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

The IATO Run, a regular affair at the convention, took place this year in a ‘zero-pollution environment,’ with an AQl level of less than 50 as informed by the organisers. On all three days, entertainment programmes were hosted with singers such as Abhijeet Sawant, Jimmy Felix, and Urvashi Arora, besides a karaoke competition. On the last day, actor and motivational speaker Ashish Vidyarthi addressed delegates to inspire the travel industry to stand strong during crises like the COVID pandemic and look for future opportunities.

Five post-convention tours were organised following the convention, with over 200 delegates exploring Gujarat and visiting places such as the Statue of Unity, Somnath, Dwarka, Jamnagar, Porbandar Modhera, Bhuj, Patan, and the Little Rann of Kutch.

IATO has announced that the next convention will take place in Bengaluru in September 2022, which will be hosted by Karnataka Tourism.

TTJ is proud to be honoured and humbled to receive the Best Digital Travel Media award at the 36th IATO Annual Convention at Gandhinagar.