To All Members

SUBJECT: Update on IATO Activities (10th May, Sunday to 17th May, Sunday, 2020)

Dear Members

Greetings

Please find appended relevant activities of your association for the period (10th May, Sunday to 17th May, Sunday, 2020)

Heading used are

  1. Communication / Letters 
  2. Webinars/ Panel Discussions/Survey
  3. IATO PR Agency

Request your feedback to further the content of your weekly report.  

 

  1. Communication / Letters 

10th May (Sunday). 

  • ?Forest Department of Rajasthan, requested to consider full refund to be made to the tour operators with Nil cancellations charges 

A problem faced by our members is that so far no refund has been made by the Rajasthan Wildlife Park Authorities for bookings made and cancelled for the foreign tourists. On the 10th of May a request letter from IATO President was sent to Mrs. Sreya Guha, IAS, Principal Secretary and Commissioner (Tourism), Government of Rajasthan to kindly intervene and the concerned authorities in the Wildlife and Forest Department of Rajasthan, Government be advised to consider full refund to be made to the tour operators with Nil cancellations charges at the earliest to enable refund the same to the foreign clients of our members on an urgent basis.

 11th May ( Monday) 

  • ?MOT Renewal ofTravel Trade

Members were enquiring about the MOT Renewal of Travel Trade. IATO received communication from Mr. Anil Oraw, RD North, MOT, GOI that his office, as well as MoT, is receiving applications from various travel trade stakeholders for renewal/fresh approval of MoT.  As there would not be any physical inspection due to the social distancing under pandemic, guidelines have been submitted to IATO members on the 11th of May for consideration of renewal/fresh applicant

  • ?IATO’s Inputs/suggestions- Safety and Hygiene Protocols for Tourism Stakeholders

On the 11th of May, as desired by MOT GOI, IATO wrote a detailed letter to Ms. Meenakshi Mehta, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India on the subject IATO’s Inputs/suggestions - Safety and Hygiene Protocols for Tourism Stakeholders.

13th May (Wednesday) 

  • ?Membership Subscription for the Financial Year 2020-21

Following on the communication sent on the 7th of May, on the 13th of May Members were again appraised by the President IATO regarding Membership Subscription for the Financial Year 2020-21

Members were again appraised about the decision of the EC to defer raising the invoice for renewal of membership till 1st July 2020. Accordingly, invoices will be raised subsequently to give relief to members in these trying times. All memberships renewed for 2019 - 2020 will continue to be valid till the time new invoices for annual subscription for financial year 2020-21 are raised. Those who wish to pay now can send an email on email id accounts@iato.in and info@iato.inand accordingly IATO office shall send an invoice with the bank details for the payment online. 

 

     15th May (Friday)

 

  • ?FAITH: YOUR HELP & SUPPORT NEEDED TO MAKE 'TOURISM MUST SURVIVE' CAMPAIGN VIRAL

Members were appraised on the 15th of May on the subject YOUR HELP & SUPPORT NEEDED TO MAKE 'TOURISM MUST SURVIVE' CAMPAIGN VIRAL, drawing from an email received from FAITH, which was self-explanatory. Members were requested to like, share and comment so that one is able to make the demand of the tourism industry for the bail-out package viral.

The link to FAITH latest tweet is # TourismMustSurvive on Twitter. 

 

     16th May (Saturday)  

  • ?Update on IATO Activities (4th May to 9th May 2020) 

Members were informed about the Update on IATO Activities (4th May, Monday to 9th May, Saturday 2020). The update was divided into two sections: Communication / Letters and Webinars /Panel Discussions/ Meetings. In each of these, date wise activities were recorded for perusal and views of the members.


2. Webinars/ Panel Discussions/Survey

11th May (Monday)

 

  • ?Accor Webinar 

Accor Webinar was held on Monday, 11th May 2020 at 4pm for IATO members. Accor highlighted their Luxury Premium Mid-Scale & Economy segments, especially in India and detailed on their policies 

12th May (Tuesday)

  • ?Dekho Apna Desh Webinar

Dekho Aapna Desh Webinar was organised by MOT GOI at11 am on Odisha. Secretary Tourism Mr Vishal Dev gave the introduction and the presentation was made by Mr Benjamin Simon.

  • ?IATO 2nd Webinar – “Employer & Employee Relationship in light of Covid -19 and Lockdown and how to move forward” 

Following the 1st webinar on the 30th April 2020 on the subject, IATO 2nd Webinar – “Employer & Employee Relationship in light of Covid -19 and Lockdown and how to move forward” as held at 5 PM on Tuesday, 12th May 2020. IATO had engaged Mr. Sanjay Lakhotia, CEO Think Noble House, an HR company to be the speaker and interact with the members during the webinar. The session was moderated by President IATO. (Members were informed on the 11th of May)

During the webinar, members expressed their difficulties faced by them due to Covid-19 as there is zero business, zero billing and zero cash flow and paying salaries to their staff and meet the office expenses. They sought guidance on HR Policy matters. Most of our members appreciated the initiative taken by IATO on HR as no other membership conducted such a professional Webinar.

  • ?BOTT Survey 

On the 12th of May Members were appraised about the   BOTT Survey to assess the short and long term scenario of the travel trade tourism industry. The Survey being done in Partnership with few leading Trade Associations, including our Association.

To Participate in the Survey members were requested to click on the link below 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hgChe8EzP3PsSUJCzwC-ASlRPpEl3B75hHkr_wUiVLs/edit

 

14th May (Thursday)

  • ? Dekho Aapna Desh Webinar

Dekho Aapna Desh Webinar was organised by MOT GOI on 14th May at11 am on Mysuru

  • ?Webinar on SEIS Scheme (How to correctly file SEIS Claims)

Ministry of Tourism, Govt.of India and the office of Director General of Foreign Trade(DGFT), an attached office of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries jointly organised a webinar on SEIS Scheme (How to correctly file SEIS Claims) from 1500-1600 hrs. on 14th May. The webinar was addressed by Ms. Suman Sharma, ADG, DGFT and Ms. Rupinder Brar, ADG (Tourism), Ministry of Tourism, Govt.of India. IATO President asked questions on behalf of the members and got clarifications from Ms. Suman Sharma. (Members were informed on the 12th of May). All the questions raised by our members were addressed on the spot and later by emails. This interactive Webinar with DGFT was very informative and worth attending by our members from all over India.

  • ?Webinar on Understanding MSME

Considering the impact of OVID19 in the tourism industry and the respective support extended by the Central & State Governments to the industries, it has become extremely important for our members to understand the importance of getting registered as MSME and take the benefit of the facilities extended. To take this further, ADTOI & IATO West Bengal Chapters organised a webinar on Schemes for MSME. It was conducted by Mr. P. Paramanik, Adviser - MSME. IATO President was on the Panel. Mr. Paramanik explained the MSME in simple words and what all benefits it can offer or not to the service sector. 

15th May (Friday)

  • TravTalk’ s Three Sessions of digital tourism conclave 

TravTalk’ s Three Sessions of digital tourism conclave was held on Friday May 15, 2020 10 am to 1.30pm. Trav talk structured a platform for tourism professionals to hear thought-leadership presentations, exchange views, engage in conversations with fellow professionals and help the industry bounce back and here it had the attention of the valued members of IATO Three appointed panel discussions scheduled for the TravTalk digital conclave were on diverse themes. IATO was a part of the panel discussion (Members were informed on the 12th & 14th of May).

  • Webinar on how to Deal with Compensation & Benefits Challenges in Disruptive Times?

A Webinar was held on Friday, 15th May at 2 pm on topic - How to Deal with Compensation & Benefits Challenges in Disruptive Times?

Mr. Sanjay Lakhotia (CEO, Noble House), Ms. Shanthi Naresh (India Business Leader, Mercer Career) and Mr. ‘Neeraj Sharma (HR Enthusiast) were the speakers. (Members informed on the 13th Of May).

16th May (Saturday)

  • ?Timing Rescheduled, from 5 to 6 pm - Dekho Apna Desh Webinar on Uttarakhand:  Simply heaven) today, the 16th May 2020

Members were informed about theTiming Rescheduled from 5 to 6 pm for the Dekho Apna Desh Webinar on Uttarakhand:  Simply heaven 0n the 16th May.

Registration link for the webinar was given as  https://bit.ly/UttarakhandDAD  

  • ?Rediscovering Ourselves: Video Conference Meeting by IATO Maharashtra Chapter Chair

Ms.Vasuki Sundaram our Maharashtra Chapter Chair informed that IATO Maharashtra initiated a video conference meeting with Principal Secretary, Tourism Smt. Valsa Nair Singh, Sri Dhananjay Savalkar Jt. Director Maharashtra Tourism was also present.

Stakeholders, who were invited, readily consented to work together for a way forward.

The other Associations who were on board were ADTOI, TAAI, TAFI, HRAWI and MTOA.

The Tourism Secretary gave an update on the Government’s focus on Domestic Travel and spoke on the concepts of Discover Maharashtra. (Members were informed on the 16th of May)

 17th May(Sunday) 

  • ?Press Release issued by the President IATO, expressing disappointment on tourism being totally ignored by the Government during relief announcements.

After the Press Conference by the Finance Minister today 17th May, about the relief package, a Press Release was issued by the President IATO, expressing disappointment on tourism being totally ignored by the Government during relief announcements. (Members were informed on the 17th of May)

  • ?IATO President wrote to Sh. Prahlad Singh Patel, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism on the Dismay of Tourism Industry for Survival in Hour of Crisis

IATO President in his letter to Sh. Prahlad Singh Patel, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, conveyed his disappointment of behalf of members of IATO on the government's lack of empathy for the suffering of tourism sector which has been totally ignored by the government in spite of the fact, that  our Hon’ble Prime Minister recognised the role of tourism in economic development and job creation of the country, mentioning tourism as one of 5 T’s during his first tenureand also tourism being included in the champion sectors.

Copies of the letter were marked to the Hon’ble Minister of Finance, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce, CEO Niti Aayog, Secretary Tourism and other key policy makers and officials of Government of India  

3. IATO PR Agency

  11th May (Monday)

  • ?Online News item in Economic Times

IATO PR Agency organised an online news item on the 11th of May in the Economic Times.

With Best Regards

Rahul Chakravarty

COO