Kolkata Set To Welcome 53rd TAAI Convention

Joy Roy Choudhury - Kolkata

Kolkata is enjoying every bit of the attention since the last two years. After hosting Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) in 2002 and Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) in 2003, it is now TAAI in 2004, ( September 24-27, 2004) working towards a hat-trick. TAAI comes to the city after nine years. The travel & tourism fraternity of the city and infact, the entire eastern region are optimistic about the future that the convention would work to the advantage of the region. Experts feel that TAAI would help them project not only West Bengal (WB) but also the entire eastern region. "It will be a great opportunity to showcase our potentials and clear misconceptions about Kolkata and WB at large," said Devesh Kumar Agarwal, director, Victoria Travels Pvt Ltd. "Things like infrastructure, road and rail connectivity between Kolkata and important tourist spots, hotel accommodations etc have improved over the years. WB tourism has also taken up some pro-active steps in promoting in-bound tourism," added Agarwal.

The WB Tourism Department too wants to grab this opportunity to showcase the State.

Speaking to Express Travel & Tourism, A K Patnaik, principal secretary, department of Tourism, government of West Bengal said, "During and after the convention the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) is planning to organise FAM tours for the travel agents and take them around some of the places in Kolkata and if possible to the Dooars, the Sunderbans, Darjeeling and other tourist spots in the state and also invite them for one-to-one sessions with our officials." He also said, such interactions should be an ongoing process and should not be confined to the TAAI annual convention only.

Alka Rathi, managing director, Aviana Travels Pvt Ltd, feels that the TAAI event would do a lot of good even for neighbouring states of Orissa, Jharkhand and the entire north-east