The 37th annual convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) kick-started at The Centrum Hotel in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on Friday (December 16).
The three-day-long convention is taking place at a time when Uttar Pradesh is looking to promote its tourism products and experiences beyond the globally famed ‘Taj Mahal’. Chief Minister of the state, Yogi Adityanath aims at making Uttar Pradesh number one in tourism and strongly believes that religious tourism will play a vital role in the achievement of this goal.
While addressing delegates at the inaugural ceremony of the convention, Mukesh Kumar Meshram, Principal Secretary & Director General, Tourism, Government of Uttar Pradesh reiterated development of religious tourism circuits like the Ramayana circuit and Krishna circuit has a prominent place in the state government’s plans for the sector.
“One of the objectives of our New Tourism policy 2022 is to promote new places in the state for tourism activities. We want to promote theme-based activities like wellness, heritage, cuisine tourism and film tourism to name a few. In fact, we will offer 2 per cent extra incentive to film shoots that highlight lesser-known tourist destinations of the state,” added Meshram.
The Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister approved the state’s New Tourism Policy-2022 on November 16. Investment-based subsidies have been offered to the hotel industry in the new tourism policy. A subsidy of up to Rs 2 crore will be given on investments up to Rs 10 crore and up to Rs 40 crore on investments above Rs 500 crore.
Ravi Gosain, Vice President, IATO & Chairman – 37th IATO Annual Convention said, “We are pleased to host our convention in Uttar Pradesh after a gap of 26 years. We are hopeful that by hosting the convention, the tourism sector of the state will get the required momentum needed for its growth in the future. I hope that we work together to reinstate the pre-pandemic glory of the industry.”
Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO said, “I think destinations like Ayodhya will witness overwhelming tourism growth in the next 2-3 years. The pandemic had halted the growth of the industry and we are thankful to the Ministry of Tourism for their support in the tough period.”
The association also presented IATO Hall of Fame Awards 2022 to Sunil C. Gupta, Managing Director, Travel Bureau and posthumously to Late Badri Bajaj, Founder, Perfect Travels.
While presenting his vote of thanks, Sunil Mishra, Hony. Treasurer and Co-Chairman – 37th IATO Annual Convention said he hoped that the convention will provide a roadmap for the inbound industry to rebound strongly post the setback caused by the onset of the pandemic.