TravTalk India Online Magazine
Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) has proposed an improved MDA scheme for domestic operators to Ministry of Tourism, and awaits an order that would benefit the sector. In other news, ADTOI continues to host webinars for its members on MOT-approved schemes and has tentatively postponed its election to January 2021.
Nisha Verma
PP Khanna, President, ADTOI, believes that the MDA scheme for domestic tour operators may get a boost soon. Speaking on the subject, he says, “We have proposed to Ministry of Tourism (MOT) regarding improvement in the MDA scheme and have received affirmation from them regarding the same.
According to what is proposed, they are currently working to increase it from what it is currently. This scheme would only be extended to domestic tour operators, who have been approved by MOT and the respective state tourism board.”
On the Association front
ADTOI has regularly been organising webinars for its members. “We recently organised a webinar with MOT on the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Programme (IITFC), for our members. It was a good webinar and we are planning to organise a few more on MOT-approved programmes with the ministry,” adds Khanna.
The Association, which had its biennial election due in August, has now postponed it. Khanna says that in the last General House Meeting the issue of election was discussed with members, and it was suggested that ADTOI postpone it to March. “However, we thought that was too late. Hence, as per the General House consensus, we have decided to postpone it till January 2021 and then we will take a decision on further course of action. Even if the lockdown has been lifted, we have around 400 active members and we cannot have all of them together at one place at this time for voting. Although we did consider the option of electronic voting, but since it has not been mentioned in our constitution, we have dismissed the idea as of now. In fact, we now have amended the constitution as well, and it has been submitted to the society.”
Multiple travel norms
Khanna says that owing to different quarantine laws in different states, there is a lot of confusion among members as well, with regard to what is open and what is not.
“None of the states have clearly stated their quarantine laws, and they keep changing them because the situation is dynamic. When we make a package, the rules are different and when people travel, they might just change, which leaves us with not much scope to do business. While so much is being said about domestic tourism, not much is happening in this regard. We need to know, who is allowed to travel to a particular state or UT, and also the guidelines in place at the destination and the hotel. Hence, I have written to all hotel chains that they tell us which of their properties are open and will not close down in the near future, as well as the guidelines we need to adhere to,” says Khanna, adding that while they cannot guarantee not closing the hotels, they have agreed to share the guidelines.
“This would allow us to share these details with our members, so that they can plan domestic trips with ease. It is a risk still to travel and for us, to get our money stuck with hotels if they close down after taking the booking and the money in advance from us. In such a situation, everyone suffers and one can’t blame the other for anything that goes wrong,” he concludes.
