IATO 13th Convention - Hyderabad, 9 - 11 December 1997.
Theme: Tourism - 50 years and beyond
President: Subhash Goyal Stic Travels Pvt. Ltd.
Convention Chairman: Maharaj IS Wahi Travel Promotion Bureau (I) Pvt. Ltd.
Chief Guest: N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh – inaugurated the convention
Hall of Fame: Vinoo Ubhayakar (Trade Wings Ltd.), Gautam Khanna & Rajendra Kumar
Business Sessions:
- Role of Tourism in Nation Building
- Taxation and Tourism
- Infrastructure Bottlenecks – Airlines, Railways and Roadways
- Infrastructure Bottlenecks – Hotels,Technology
- HRD and Marketing
- Adventure Tourism and the Environment
- On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of India’s Independence,IATO converged for its 12th convention at Hyderabad in 1997.At the meet (titled: Tourism - 50 years and beyond), it wasplaced on record the thrust given to tourism as an instrumentof radical change in ‘Vision 2020’ as envisaged by the thenChief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu.
- IATO also urged both the Central and State governments to streamline procedures for private investment in tourism projects and ensure a single window, time bound clearance.
- It strongly urged all State governments to make land available to all segments of the travel industry including hotels at reasonable rates to increase accommodation.
- The association also called upon its members to contribute their bit in preserving the ecosystem and heritage.
- Members were urged to join in an active and united effort to revive tourism in Jammu & Kashmir and promote the unexplored North-East.