IATO members ready for business

The Uttar Pradesh and Bihar chapters of IATO organised a ‘Getting Tourism Ready’ event at Hotel Taj Ganges, Varanasi, on January 21, to bring all stakeholders together on a common platform and iron out all wrinkles.

Hazel Jain

Chaired by Prateek Hira, IATO’s Chapter Chairman for UP and Uttarakhand, and Susheel Kumar Singh, its Chapter Chairman for Bihar, the meeting was attended by 35 tour companies apart from IATO members. The event was supported by Ministry of Tourism (MOT) and Amit Gupta, Assistant Director, Indiatourism, who informed the industry about the new marketing initiatives and support schemes that are now being extended for domestic roadshows. Gupta also shared that Indiatourism Varanasi will be organising roadshows in Bengaluru and Hyderabad along with IATO, and will then extend them to other cities in India.

Speaking at the event, Hira said that it was time all travel trade associations brought their members together and geared up for tourism that is expected to commence soon. “Be ‘tourism ready’ so that when tourists start coming in, we are not caught unaware and are prepared to welcome them and show them a better India,” he said, adding that MOT is leaving no stone unturned and has been really active even during the lockdown through its
outreach programme‘ Dekho Apna Desh’.

Hira, who coined the term ‘Getting Tourism Ready’, said that being without business is no excuse to be lethargic, rather an opportunity to better equip oneself with knowledge, plan business, re-establish, re-focus and expand business horizons to enhance revenue when tourism returns. Governments, too, need to be in this ‘ready’ mode and work for betterment of the destinations and the industry, he believes. Addressing attendees, Singh spoke about the importance of Buddhist tourism and was of the opinion that this might open up sooner than other markets. He emphasised how the state government in Uttar Pradesh should be more forthcoming to handhold tour operators, especially after the worst time that the travel industry has experienced.

To this, Hira added that a similar outreach is being planned in UP and a White Paper will be prepared on issues plaguing the industry. A meeting with the Principal Secretary will then be planned. “It is important to give government departments solutions and work along with them, than to just give them a list of problems,” Hira said.