Theme:  Tourism - A Gateway to Prosperity

President:  Subhash Goyal, Stic Travels Pvt. Ltd.

Convention Chairman:  Badri Bajaj, Adventure World Travels (I) Pvt. Ltd.

Hall of Fame:  Dr. NK Sengupta (Former Secretary, Govt. of India), Major SSH Rehman (President, FHRAI), C Nagendra Prasad (Travelexpress Ltd.)

A brief detail:

• The 14th IATO convention was held in New Delhi from August 20- 22. The agenda for the convention was the Draft National Tourism Policy.
• The resolutions adopted by the convention were, the creation of new national tourism authority, IATO’s support to the creation of a tourism export promotion council, opening of more international airports, better airport facilitation and infrastructure like transport and communications and IATO’s support to Buddha Mahotsava Khajuraho Millenium and permitting adventure tour operators to import equipment duty free.
• The Living Legend award was conferred on Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi, Chairman, the Oberoi Group of Hotels.
• Co-chairman: Major Murli Dhar, Cosmopolitan Tours Operators & Travel Agents
• Chief Guest: Madan Lal Khurana, Minister of Tourism, Govt. of India, inaugurated the convention along with Vijay Kapoor, Lt. Governer of Delhi and Ram Jethmalani, Minister of Urban Development
• Keynote Address: Madhav Rao Scindia, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Railways
• Valedictory Address: Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister of J&K; Omak Apang, Minister of State for Tourism, gave the prizes

Business Sessions:

• Discussions on the Draft National Tourism Policy
• Smokeless Industry on Fire
• Inbound Tourism – an Export Product
• Adventure Tourism & Environment
• Domestic Tourism – Role of State Governments and Industry
• Transportation – the Heartbeat of Tourism: Airlines-Waterways-Railways-Roadways
• Village and Rural Tourism Stepping into the Next Millenium