IATO Convention 2007 Roundup

Tackling global challenges

The Indian Association of Tour Operators attempted to tackle the most pressing issues concerning the travel trade at their annual convention held in New Delhi this year. Under the umbrella of Global Challenges, the focus was on situations and events posing a serious threat to the steady development of tourism. By Andrea Lopez

With outbound tourism figures showing rounded growth, the Indian tourism industry was adjudged to have come of age. Subash Goyal, chairman of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) said, "The current tourism scenario in the country is looking robust. In keeping with this, we hope to analyse the inherent challenges that have come our way and slowed the momentum of tourism in the country."

Rising to meet the challenges

The discussions that ensued reiterated that with mergers and acquisitions becoming watchwords, smaller travel agents and tour operators would have to pull up their socks and brace themselves from the assault of the bigger tour operators. The idea proposed was to arm the smaller agents with the right tools so that they would be able to survive the cut-throat competition. Moreover, with online travel agents grabbing more than their share of the pie, the traditional brick-and-mortar agents were left with no opportunity but to revamp their traditional ways of functioning.

Minister for Tourism & Culture, Ambika Soni, who was also present at the convention, asserted that with 400 million people travelling within the country, the industry has been generating employment as well. But apart from this, the industry is witnessing a serious dearth of skilled manpower. WTTC statistics reveal that the tourism sector would need an additional 2.7 million trained people to supplement the boom in the coming years. Although government-accredited institutes have been springing up all over the country, the quality of students churned out were still deemed to be far from satisfactory. Sitikantha Mishra, director of IITM Gwalior commented that the only way to beat the challenge was to devise means to retain and replenish human resources.

Macro issues

Brian Desson, senior vice president (Asia Pacific) at Accor Hospitality, addressed macro issues that resulted in a slump in global tourism. Globally, the looming threat of terrorism has resulted in a slowdown in people traversing across frontiers, so much so that places that once occupied esteemed positions on the world tourism map have been pushed into the closet.

Ludwig Reider, chairman and principal consultant of the Asia Pacific project under Asian Development Bank, pointed out that although the current tourism scenario in the country looked very promising, there was a need to prepare a roadmap to develop infrastructure to match up to the industry requirements. Reider asserted that a project was in place to assist the government of India to prepare an investment plan to develop world-class tourism infrastructure in various states in terms of better rail, road and seaport connectivity.

Provisions have also been laid down to improve destination infrastructure in terms of electricity, water, etc. "We are also looking to address rural tourism to give community-based tourism a boost," said Reider. Apart from this, plans are in place to improve areas surrounding the heritage monuments in the country. A total of 117 sites have been identified where lighting and infrastructure is being upgraded. Public-private partnerships have been deemed as a means to retain these heritage sites.

Building bridges within India

On developing tourism within the country, Praveen Chugh, president of TAFI, pointed out that domestic tourism is generating more revenues than inbound traffic. This means that there is a need to address this segment as well. To facilitate this, there is a need to develop highways and expressways within India, as well as address the problem of road tax. The government of India has proposed to develop a network of expressways in the country in the next ten years.

The concept of eco-tourism is picking up well in the country and Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) asserted that there was an urgent need for road shows and contour maps to take this segment of the industry forward. It also proposed revision of eco-tourism policies of all states, including on the HRD front, and urged private institutions to add adventure and eco-tourism to their curriculum.

Managing growth in civil aviation

The spellbinding growth in the aviation sector can hardly be ignored. Infrastructure was identified as the key stumbling block. Ashok Chawla, secretary, civil aviation, government of India, commented that the Mumbai and New Delhi airports were well on their way to being refurbished. "We need to catch up on the availability of hotel rooms to keep the momentum going," he said.

V Thulasidas, chairman and managing director of Air India, commented that the industry had not foreseen such unprecedented growth in the aviation sector about four or five years ago. The infrastructure in place then was sufficient to cope with the existing air traffic. The reality today is very different. Apart from increasing the number of flight connections, the quality of services and technology onboard has occupied the mind space of many flight operators in terms of more refined in-flight entertainment. The industry is also looking at a definite 100 per cent interline e-ticketing by the end of 2007.