The much-coveted election to decide the new leadership of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) is scheduled on March 6, 2021. We spoke to Ravi Gosain, Managing Director, Erco Travels, who is contesting for the post of Vice President on the vision of his team ‘moving forward – the next phase’ and the way ahead for the inbound sector.
Q. Why should members vote for your team?
A. I think it is important that there is continuity in terms of the IATO’s leadership team. Members of our team like Rajiv Mehrawho is contesting for the post of President have worked extremely hard for the benefit of our association and its members. All the members of our team are committed to continuing the good work that was started by the previous regime.
We all know that the current time has posed an unprecedented challenge for the inbound sector. So, it is imperative that there is a continuity in our leadership team that has been liaising with the government and bureaucrats for the benefit of our sector. I understand that the government has not been supportive in the way we wanted but we have to keep on trying for the sake of the industry.
Q. As you mentioned that the government has not been able to offer much ‘relief’ to the tourism and hospitality industry. Going ahead, how do you view IATO engaging with the Ministry of Tourism?
A. IATO as a leading industry body has always been invited in the planning and marketing activities of the ministry. Unfortunately, we didn’t receive the kind of support we were expecting. The IATO’s leadership in the past held many rounds of discussions with the government and we were given hope. We also submitted data to the concerned government departments to highlight our role in employment generation and the overall economy. But things have not materialized the way we want.
However, we can’t give away hope and have to keep on trying. The government has to play an important role in the growth of the inbound sector and we have to continue to engage with the government authorities.
Q. If your team comes to power, what will be the key focus areas for you?
A. We want the government to announce a date for the resumption of tourist visas. This will mark the beginning of our revival. We will continue to follow up with the Ministry of Finance regarding the release of SEIS scrips for 2019-2020. We want the IATO website to be a profitable platform for our members. For this to happen we want IATO’s website to be hyperlinked with the portal of the Ministry of Tourism so that our members can receive leads on a rotation basis.
We want to focus more aggressively on technology. We plan to launch an app of IATO that will allow our members to connect more seamlessly. We will also promote IATO’s website in various source markets so that our members can get business queries. Social media is another area we will focus on to promote IATO’s website. We will also request the Ministry of Tourism to provide booths to tour operators in all major international travel marts at a very subsidized cost, enabling our members to participate in maximum marts. These are a few of the areas we will be focusing on. In a nutshell, our vision is to empower members so that their businesses can thrive.
Q. When do you expect a recovery for the inbound business?
A. I think it will take a year or so for the recovery of the inbound tourism to the level of the year 2019. If the scheduled international air operations begin in April, we can expect some business beginning this winter season. We need to be patient for the business to reach the pre-COVID-19 level. We have to be united and keep ourselves motivated till the time our industry recovers completely.