TravTalk India Online Magazine
Vivek Pandey, President of the recently-formed Travel Trade Association of Uttar Pradesh (TTAUP), shares his plans for the association and lists activities planned for the coming year.
ANKITA SAXENA
Keeping in mind the growing travel business in smaller cities of Uttar Pradesh, TTAUP is a maiden attempt by local travel agents to come together in order to represent the fraternity of the state as well as grow business from the region.
Only a year-old, TTAUP has 80 active members and 25 associate members from Uttar Pradesh. Vivek Pandey, President, TTAUP, explains, “It was observed that tourism business was getting concentrated in the metros and Tier-I cities and most of the events and travel marts were being hosted in the bigger cities. Thus, we thought it was a necessity to take initiative to bring business events to cities in Uttar Pradesh which are in a developing stage and have a lot to explore. We hope to retain the business of Uttar Pradesh within the state and allow local travel agents to sell the products directly to their clients rather than routing the business through agents in Delhi or Mumbai.”
“We hope to retain the business of Uttar Pradesh within the state and allow local travel agents to sell the products directly to their clients”
He also believes that the smaller tour operators need to be educated and groomed to gain trust of their clients and also showcase product knowledge so that the business in Uttar Pradesh grows further. In 2017, the association organised a mega workshop on GST to address the new tax regime for its members and almost 250 travel partners from across the state attended the same. The association also hosted its first Travel Trade Mart in Lucknow which was a resounding success. Pandey adds, “We are a non-profit, registered association and our aim is to provide our members with value additions to their business without involving their funds. We are not in a hurry to increase our membership. When we receive a membership request, each application is carefully scrutinised for the company’s credibility and capability and then inducted as a member. The annual membership fee is Rs. 6000 (JanDec) which is the association’s operative cost.”
He further informs that in the coming year, TTAUP has plans to up the scale of TTM and will also focus on more educational seminars and activities for its members to increase the market share of Uttar Pradesh in the total travel business of India.
Maiden Initiatives
- In 2017, the association organised a mega workshop on GST to address the new tax regime for its members. Almost 250 travel partners from across the state attended the event
- TTAUP also hosted its first Travel Trade Mart in Lucknow
