‘The Convention Is A Platform For Serious Deliberations And Business Achievements’

Vijay Thakur, honourary secretary, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) in conversation with Jyoti Koul, talks about the plans and actions of the forthcoming convention. Excerpts

The tourism industry was affected lately with a down market and travel advisories issued by several countries. How did IATO deal with the situation?

In order to deal with the crisis following travel advisories, IATO took the first initiative in recommending necessary steps to the government to counter travel advisories and provided the government with inputs such as recorded interviews of foreign tourists and other important visiting foreign delegations to tell the world that India is safe for travel. Besides, all our member tour operators have been doing their own bit in conveying the right message across foreign nationals.

What is the theme of the annual convention and how important do you think is the 2002 convention?

The theme of the convention to be held in Kolkota is ‘Tourism and the national agenda’. Through this convention, we would like to highlight the importance and significance of tourism on the national agenda and why this industry needs to be put on high priority, if the government and industry are really serious in promoting tourism in India. You are well aware of the last convention in Jodhpur, which had a theme ‘tourism - the engine for economic growth’ - which was a great success and more so, all the states and Centre understood the importance of the tourism industry, as the biggest generator of employment and socio-economic benefits.

What according to you do agents generally look forward to at conventions?

We at IATO always try our best to provide the most to our members on product updates, and try to resolve common issues and achieve the targeted agenda at the annual conventions. The convention is not merely an opportunity to meet and greet, but provides a platform for serious deliberations and business to achieve the aim of making tourism top priority on the governments agenda.