TravTalk India Online Magazine
Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, claims it is vital for the association to continuously invest in its members through workshops and educational programmes. In addition, she insists sustainability needs to be more than a buzzword today and awareness about green travel must be extended to all levels of tourism businesses.
Nisha Verma
Jyoti Mayal, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) claims sustainability is a two-way traffic. “Today, sustainability is beyond being a buzzword. It is becoming more feasible because people are getting aware of it, owing to climate change and over-tourism. Today, it needs to be adapted into our lives. We need to make India more sustainable with inclusiveness. People are asking questions even for air travel and are ready to pay sustainability tax,” she said.
Relationship building
Claiming that the destination marketing is very different today, she said, “Information about destinations should be updated and filter down right to our members, and should not just include CEOs and owners of companies. It is a long-term relationship and should be a continuous effort. Such interactions allow members to drive best value and connect to the right stakeholders who have repute in their own country. At the same time, we want people from other countries to visit India. Hence, we do these MoUs and roadshows that it can be a win-win situation not only for us, but for the other country too. In fact, wherever TAAI takes its convention or connects with, the business multiplies,” she insisted.
In fact, she added, “We have done roadshow with Sri Lanka and even took our convention to the island nation. Also, roadshows have been done with Almaty, Kazakhstan, and even Turkey in the past. We are in dialogue with more countries for roadshows. Currently, TAAI has MoUs with 28 countries and some states in India, as we are investing in domestic tourism,” informed Mayal.
G20 facelift
Saying that 2023 saw a surge in business in all respects, she shared that G20 meetings happening in India was a great boon. “Infrastructure got much better with G20 meetings. The last mile connectivity got better and so did our relationships. TAAI has been a part of all G20 meetings for tourism and I have been a speaker at one of them. All these opportunities have created a huge working institution and relationships for our members,” she informed.
Adding further, she said, “TAAI keeps investing in its members. They should progress and apart from roadshows, we are holding educational programs and Fam trips for them. I’ve been visiting many states and having knowledge sessions with them.”
Government cooperation
TAAI has been working closely with the Government. “During G20, we were part of policy-making. I am also the Vice Chairperson of FAITH, and under that we did a lot of policy-making for sustainable tourism, cruise tourism, adventure tourism and film tourism. Also, we believe that the National Tourism Policy should not be delayed any further. We are looking at cooperation with other countries with Ministry of Tourism. We are in continuous dialogue with Ministry of Civil Aviation and MOT for the countries who are looking to start new flights to India.”
Alliances a priority
TAAI recently organized a six-city roadshow with The Ministry of Culture & Tourism of the Republic of Turkiye and Turkiye Tourism & Promotion Agency.
Speaking about the alliance, Mayal said, “I believe that we collectively need to work towards upliftment of the industry, educating the industry and see that more avenues and streams open. It is a great opportunity post-COVID to reconnect with Turkey as a destination. With the recent roadshow and meet, our members get more educated and updated on the new ways of working with the country.”
