TravTalk India Online Magazine
Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) chapters are working towards helping its members reach a common goal – their empowerment, says Ajay Prakash, the National President of the association. Sharing updates about the long-pending TAFI Annual Convention, Prakash says that they are in talks with three destinations for the same, but nothing has been finalised yet.
Hazel Jain
Chapters of the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) have been quite active in the past two months. After conducting two back-to-back roadshows – in Mumbai and Ahmedabad – for its members, TAFI continues to maintain its pace. Recently, Pune chapter of the association also conducted its meeting and welcomed 35 new members. Ajay Prakash, National President, TAFI, says, “I think that is phenomenal and speaks volumes about the chapter office-bearers and the work they are doing. In fact, we see an increase in membership across the board. This is also because all our chapters are actively providing value to the membership.”
TAFI’s Tamil Nadu Chapter recently organised a meeting combining it with a familiarisation trip to Sri Lanka. Apart from this, TAFI has redone its Joint Bank Guarantee (JBG) to help its members. “We have also added a few more members to our JBG scheme after vetting it with our financial consultant and JBG team. The new JBG will come into effect from 1 July 2024. We are currently in the middle of completing all documentation and making it tighter, thereby making it easier for our members to conduct business,” Prakash reveals.
All TAFI chapters are also conducting regular bi-monthly meetings. “This ensures that people are involved, they are aware, and they contribute by sharing new ideas. We have a Tourism Promotion Committee that has been talking to members and asking them to make a presentation on new and unusual destinations,” he says.
Sharing an update about its long-pending annual convention, Prakash says that they are in talks with three destinations for the same, but nothing has been finalised yet.
Time for Eastern Europe
Prakash also highlighted that Eastern Europe has started getting popular among Indian travellers. “People have been visiting Western European countries for a long time and there is a certain amount of fatigue that has set in. Meanwhile, Eastern Europe has remained relatively unexplored, not that they have not been travelling there. Awareness about this part of Europe has picked up a lot in the last decade. More direct flights, easier visas have helped, and some of our members have taken more interest in Eastern Europe,” he adds.
The Schengen visa fee will go up a bit from June 2024. Prakash says that people do not mind paying more for the Schengen visa, provided they get the visa on time. “The bottleneck of visas is frustrating and if they use this extra money to reduce the turnabout time, we will not have any complaint. But if you charge more money and still make people wait for six months, you are shooting yourself in the foot. But it’s not an increase that will push people to other countries. It’s not about the cost alone, it’s also about the speed and ease of visas,” he shares.
