APRIL, 2018 IATO NEWSLETTER
2
FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK
I call on all to unite
closely around the
team you elected
and enable us to
make new
progresses in
future.We assure
you of our honesty,
sincerity and being
open to all your
suggestions/
feedback
Festival greetings to all,
W
e have made a good start to our work in the Hindustani New Year on
completion of our IATO Election on April 28, 2018 at The Ashok Hotel, New
Delhi.
The New Year and the old team with new vigor will take our various unfinished
works to a new level. I welcome E M Najeeb who is elected as Sr Vice President,
Rajesh Mudgill as Hony. Secretary and also other elected members who are new viz
Ravi Gosain as Hony. Treasurer, P Vijayasarathy, Deepak Bhatnagar and Tony
Marwah elected as Executive Committee Members. The first battle has been won in
our efforts. The members’ confidence bestowed on us was outflowing. We achieved
success in several areas which opened up increased tourist arrivals. We achieved
success on streamlining e-tourist visa norms, immigration clearance at
international airports, MDA norms, road shows, training programmes and have
made several recommendations to the government for correcting the areas of
concern for GST implementation in the travel and hospitality sector. Our efforts will
continue and will not stop till we see the final conclusion. Our members have great
spirit to work hard and endure hardships to realise the dreams. We can bring the
success only with your feedback and cooperation.
I salute all our members who helped us to come back with flying colours in the
election and contribute to IATO’s continuous growth. I call on all to unite closely
around the team you elected and enable us to make new progresses in future. We
assure you of our honesty, sincerity and being open to all your suggestions/feedback.
EC under my leadership have rolled up the sleeves to work hard for the goal of
building a strong IATO, achieving the great rejuvenation in IATO work strategy and
building a strong IATO for shared destiny of success in business and a life full of
prosperity.
This Hindu New Year bring all success, good health and prosperity.
Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO
IATO NEWSLETTER APRIL, 2018 3
IN THE NEWS
IATO CONDUCTS ELECTIONS FOR
NEWOFFICE BEARERS
IATO’s elections for the post of office bearers and executive committee members were
held on April 28, 2018 at The Ashok Hotel, New Delhi. Total number of votes cast were
313 out of 376 members eligible to vote.
APRIL, 2018 IATO NEWSLETTER
4
IN THE NEWS
E M Najeeb
Sr Vice President
P Vijayasarthy
EC Member
Pronab Sarkar
President
P S Duggal
EC Member
Rajnish Kaistha
Hony.Joint Secretary
Rajeev Mehra
Vice President
Deepak Bhatnagar
EC Member
Sunil C Gupta
EC Member
Raj Bajaj
EC Member
Viney Tyagi
EC Member
Subhash Goyal
Immediate Past President
Tony Marwah
EC Member
Zia Siddiqui
EC Member
Rajesh Mudgill
Hony. Secretary
Ravi Gosain
Hony.Treasurer
The New Team
IATO NEWSLETTER APRIL, 2018 5
IN THE NEWS
THE FIRSTJOINTWORKING GROUPMEETING
WITH SOUTH AFRICA
T
he first Joint Working Group
Meeting on Tourism cooperation
took place on April 27, 2018
wherein India delegation was led
by Suman Billa, Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Tourism, Government of
India and South African delegation was
led by Aneme Malan, Deputy Director
General Tourism Research Policy and
International Relations. Pronab Sarkar,
President, IATO was also in the
delegation representing travel trade in
India. He made valuable suggestions
how the travel trade in both the
countries can make best use of such
joint deliberations. He mentioned about
the need for visa ease, exchange of
information and data related to tourism,
better cooperation between tourism
stakeholders, particularly hotels and
tour operators, more investment in
tourism and hospitality sectors,
exchange programmes for cooperation
in tourism hospitality training and
education. The meeting concluded with
signing of the bilateral agreement. Gour
Kanjilal, Executive Director, IATO also
was present in the meeting along with
trade members from the hospitality
industry.
APRIL, 2018 IATO NEWSLETTER
6
By Gour Kanjilal
T
here is a tangible shift in the way
people are travelling and this trend
will become more defined in the
future. While the new age traveller
today is looking for distinctively different
experiences, there is a small but growing
segment which believes in travelling with a
specific aim to enrich themselves – this can
range from learning a new culinary style
while on a vacation to doing a crash course
in tennis or engaging in voluntourism.
There is already an increasing focus of
looking beyond the destination – the
sudden growth in events based tourism
and sports tourism are a case in point. The
only instance when the destination will be
of focal point will be the yet unexplored
locations which are distinctively different
from the better known and most
frequented ones.
Mass Tourism
In an industry which is changing so fast,
both in terms of traveller demands and
behaviour patterns and in business
operations, understanding major trends
will be the key to look for successful
growth. One of the interesting new trends
is the concept of Mass Tourism through
movement of charters. Mass Tourism
needs a different education for handling big
groups with different languages and
interests. It can develop with
improvements in infrastructure at all
levels, that is improvement of airports,
technology, allowing the transport of large
numbers of people by air or surface, rail,
cruise, etc, in a short span of time. To boost
this segment of tourism, the Ministry of
Tourism, Government of India has
constituted a special Travel Trade Cell to
look after charter operations and
regulation of norms for charters. This
however also needs special training and
adoption of global norms for operations.
Sustainable Tourism
New trends need to be featured in
tourism education syllabus so that the new
generation entering the industry are well
prepared to focus on new avenues of
business. For instance, niche tourism
products like Agri Tourism, which includes
visiting agro farms, wineries, rural centres.
India has better opportunities for servicing
such experiential tourists. Farm tourism
can also be included in Sustainable
Tourism, which will become the mainstay
in times to come. It is integral for
Sustainable Tourism practices to be
incorporated in tourism education
syllabus. There cannot be real economic
growth without social and environmental
impact studies. This has brought focus on
Eco Tourism - travel to fragile, pristine and
usually protected areas that strive to be
low impact, and often small scale. It mainly
tries to educate travellers, provides
tourism revenues for
education/conservation, benefiting the
local communities and fostering respect
for different cultures and human rights. In
India, there are now over 170 Rural
Tourism Centers under development and
at various stages of completion, mainly to
promote eco-tourism objectives. But for
systematic education and development,
KEYTRENDS IN TOURISM
FOR THE FUTURE
COVER STORY
IATO NEWSLETTER APRIL, 2018 7
sustainable tourism needs to be included
under niche products outlining the do’s and
don’ts along with systems of conservation,
impact studies, research base, carrying
capacity, etc.
Medical Tourism
Medical Tourism is a new concept and
has grabbed global attention among
tourism promoting countries. India has
made a significant progress on this account
but there is no proper education on how
such businesses need to be operated on
ethical practices. In India, Wellness
Tourism is part of Medical Tourism,
combining alternative health practices
with the mainstream.
Creative Tourism
Another segment called Creative
Tourism, has always existed as Cultural
Tourism. This concept got a boost since
high profile organisations like UNESCO
who through the creative cities network
have endorsed Creative Tourism as an
engaged, automatic experience that
promotes an active understanding of the
specific cultural feature of a destination,
like World Heritage Monuments in India
China, Egypt, Turkey, France, Jordan and
other countries. Cultural and Crafts
Tourism also focus on cultural festivals and
craft festivals where tourists have direct
interaction with craftspeople, through
interactive workshops and informed
learning experiences.
Dark Tourism
There are other new segments in
tourism which will need professionals to do
justice for future development in a
systematic manner. Dark Tourism is
getting popular in Western Europe like
sites of horrific crimes (Potsdam and
Dresden in Germany), acts of genocide (like
concentration camps where Jews were
massacred), etc. In India, such sites include
the INA Memorial in Manipur, cemeteries
in Lucknow and Kolkata, etc. There are
also visits to off-the-beaten track sites
which may also include places where worst
earthquake took place like Kutch areas in
Gujarat. It has some link with Doom
Tourism which involves travelling to places
that are environmentally or otherwise sites
of disasters like melting glaciers of
Patagonia, dwindling coral of the Great
Barrier Reef, tribal regions of Andaman
Islands, Odisha, etc. This type of tourism is
believed to be on the rise and often is
clubbed with Sustainable Tourism as these
centers are also threatened by
environmental factors such as global
warming, over population, climate change
and other factors.
Sports Tourism
Sports Tourism is also making
significant progress but we also need
specific education and licensing for
operations such as football, cricket, hockey
world cups attract volumes of tourists.
Adventure tourism like trekking in the
Himalayas, river rafting, aqua sports in
rivers, oceans, Himalayan Car Rally, desert
safari, high altitude expeditions, bungee
jumping, will continue to grow in
popularity.
Emerging segments
Space Tourism has also been much
discussed since the last decade.
Meanwhile, underwater hotels like
Hydropolis (in Dubai) will attract big
cruisers which will be like floating cities.
Thus, Cruise Tourism format will change
with new destinations added. In India, the
government has given some priority status
but lack total skill development for
servicing Cruise Tourism.
In Europe, Japan, China and even India,
Rail Tourism has added a new dimension.
Special tourist trains like Palace on
Wheels, Deccan Odyssey, Royal Rajasthan
are offering unique Rail Tourism
experiences. Shopping Tourism,
Architectural and Photo Safari, Gourmet
Heritage, Astrological Tours, Cycle Tours,
Educational Tours, are the other emerging
segments.
There is a need to remodel the whole
tourism syllabus looking into all these new
trends. Skill development is necessary in
these segments as in the absence of trained
staff, we might fail to leverage on these
niche tourist components and our tourism
will remain in the cultural segment. We
have to go out of this branding as a cultural
tourism destination; our image should be a
Land of All Seasons, All Reasons and Tell
Your Interest. But first we need to prepare
our future students in tourism by having
professional education. Let us work
together to create the syllabus.
COVER STORY
APRIL, 2018 IATO NEWSLETTER
8
IN THE NEWS
S.No. Subject Problems Solutions
1) Group reservations
Currently representative of any Indian
school group or Indian wedding party is
facilitated by supervisor of reservations
in Indian Railways to issue the group
ticket so that the party can undertake
the journey as whole group with seat
allocation done in continuity serial wise.
However there is no provision for
foreign groups of IATO members to
book their foreign groups since there
are no RTA’s/RTSA’s in existence as
agents/representatives of Indian
Railways.
Allocate a separate booking window as
Nodal point for IATO members to be
allowed to physically buy and obtain the
tickets for their overseas foreign groups.
Similarly, IATO members who are
recognised by Ministry of Tourism be
allowed to act as representatives to
serve the foreign groups for the cause of
the nation.
2) Platform entry passes for IATO
members
In order to service the foreign groups
and individuals our IATO members buy
platform tickets whose sale is
suspended during/around special
occasions like Independence Day,
Gandhi Jayanti, Republic Day and
during Puja holidays etc.
Members of IATO should be facilitated
with issuance of special pass to serve
foreign clients for arrival and departure
at the platforms. Just like the airport
authority issues special passes against
payment on six monthly basis, same way
Indian Railways can greatly benefit
foreign visitors by issuance of such
passes to IATO members.
3) Advance purchase of tickets
Currently the reservation facility is
available to the GSAs of Indian Railways
who are based overseas for booking the
train sectors 360 days prior to their date
of journey. The overseas GSA
communicates with foreign tourist
office of Indian Railways located in
Station Building of New Delhi Railways
Station on first floor. Likewise some
other gateway cities of India are
providing such facility for GSAs as well
as foreign tourists who arrive at the last
minute.
Railways should allow similar facility to
IATO members so that they can
purchase train tickets for their foreign
groups and individuals, either thru
advance purchase or for their tourists
who plan the itinerary after arrival in
India under foreign tourist quota.
4) Tourist Bogies a) Presently the approval and
processing time for IRCTC to obtain the
permission from different zone is
lengthy.
b) Hiring charges for extra coach are
costlier almost two and half times of the
ticket cost. Supposing the group wants
to hire coach for sector Delhi to Sawai
Madhopur, then Indian Railways levy
point to point charge Delhi to Mumbai
and back, plus 40 per cent taxes. This is
on a very high side.
a) For charter of train/ bogies, facility
should be available at the separate
window where normal booking is done
for the IATO members and the
procedure should be simplified
b) In the earlier days, only single journey
plus taxes were charges for hiring of
coaches, which should be reinstated.
c) Facility for chartering tourist bogies
for longer duration should be available
and to be attached in the important
trains as per requirement by the tour
operators.
Reservations & Other tourism related issues with Indian Railways
Problems & proposed solutions identified by IATO members
IATO NEWSLETTER APRIL, 2018 9
IN THE NEWS
S.No. Subject Problems Solutions
5) Toy Trains All the below three toy trains have issues like
Reservations, Quality, Safety & Hygiene besides First
Class Category not delivering the quality:
a) Darjeeling – Ghoom – Darjeeling
b) Kalka – Shimla – Kalka
c) Ooty – Coonoor – Mettupalayam & back.
1. The coaches are not clean and there is dirt and grime
all over. The condition of coaches being used for First
Class are contrary to the name indicated.
2. Booking and clearance process is quite slow at
Ambala Cantt for Kalka – Shimla – Kalka sector.
3. More coaches are required for all toy trains.
4. For toy train sector Ooty – Coonoor – Mettupalayam &
back, as of now there is no provision for charter booking.
5. Safety and security of passengers. On September 12,
2015, a major accident occurred on Kalka-Shimla toy
train. Due to this UK foreign agent of IATO member
TWX has removed promoting toy train from their
wholesale brochure programme.
6. Present insurance coverage for Indian and foreign
passengers travelling on any of the train sector is `4 lakh
per pax.
7. 'The Nilgiris Mountain Train', the Queen of all trains in
Southern India is most popular both with home tourists
and foreign nationals. Unfortunately all tourists face a
lot of difficulties and hardship in enjoying this wonderful
journey.
The points to be thought of :
a ) The limitation of just 16 seats in the first class - if
there is group they cannot be accommodated due to the
small number of seat allotment in the first class.
b) There is no appearance of a luxury compartment in
this wonderful train.
c ) The frequency of the train is presently one or two
departures whereas most of the tourists prefer the
uphill journey,
d) During peak season rush, many times passengers
from the second class are found in the first class and the
ticket conductor is not around to monitor the situation.
8. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) more
popularly known as the Toy Train was granted World
Heritage Site status by UNESCO in the December 1999.
The stations along this route are still from the old era
and can be improved by just adding a clean toilet and
good restaurants. Then last year 2015 all of a sudden the
toy train fares were increased by about 300 per cent. If
the prices are not reduced less and less people will travel
by this train.
9. Many movie makers want to feature the Toy Train in
their movies. This has not happened because of the
complicated system for filming. If one has to shoot a
scene in any railway station in the Darjeeling hills, they
have to first take permission from the Railway Board
and deposit money in Maligaon in Assam and it takes a
lot of time to get the permission.
1) May we suggest the authorities to spruce up the
coaches and give them a facelift even at the cost of a
little increase in the fare but bearing in the mind that
the heritage status is maintained.
2) We suggest that control /booking/fast clearance
should be done thru Delhi office.
3) Keeping in view of the more demand & if technical
viability then, we suggest that more coaches should
deployed especially first class.
4) We suggest that charter booking should allowed for
toy train sector Ooty – Coonoor – Mettupalayam &
back
5) Strong infrastructure in terms of maintenance of
tracks, experienced drivers to avoid any accident.
6) In order to repose the confidence back amongst the
travel fraternity in overseas world, it is strongly
recommended to increase the coverage upto INR 20
Lakh per pax.
7) Suggestion parawise given below
a) No. of seats in first class to be increased
b) The train has to enhance to more luxury status by
retaining its originality. The passengers will definitely
not mind paying the extra charges.
c) The frequency of the departures from
Mettupalayam has to be increased.
d) Strict action to be taken against the unauthorised
travellers.
8. Facilities for the passengers on this journey be
improved. The stations along this route should be
improved by adding a clean toilets and good
restaurants. The fares be reduced on this trains so
that occupancy be increased.
9. Single window clearance should be given for film
shooting and permissions be given in one go.
Unnecessary harassment should be avoided. If money
could be deposited in Darjeeling/Kurseong, the
headquarters of the DHR, and permission could be
given by the DHR itself, many movie makers would
feature the DHR in their movies. This would really
popularise and help the DHR.
APRIL, 2018 IATO NEWSLETTER
10
IN THE NEWS
S.No. Subject Problems Solutions
6) Special Tourist Coaches The condition of coaches in all the trains
including Rajdhani Express and other
tourist trains is not of international
standard and need to be upgraded.
It is suggested that special tourist
coaches of international standard with
bio-degradable toilet facility should be
introduced in all the important trains.
Such coaches could be attached with
any train as per booking requirement.
Super Deluxe Bogie to be introduced
exclusively for Foreigners/NRIs, to
start with initially on important trains,
mail express.
Catering to be of international standard.
7) Haulage charges for the luxury trains
run by State Tourism Development
Corporations
The existing tourist trains are running
with only 30 per cent occupancy. In spite
of having a capacity to run more than 10
tourist trains, we are not even running a
single train to its full capacity and
because of “haulage charges” on
tourism, the tourist trains are dying.
Capacity of the tourist trains are low, so,
the per capita haulage charge becomes
very high. It compels State Tourism
Development Corporations to increase
the price of the tickets. Due to the over-
priced tickets, we get very few bookings.
And it has become almost impossible for
the tourist trains to survive.
We need discounted haulage charges for
tourist trains so that tariff of luxury
trains can be reduced which are
presently very high. We understand that
priority for Indian Railways to run
trains for common people but tourism is
also important for the country like India
for further growth and development.
8) Cleanliness at the railway stations,
platforms, toilets etc.
The condition of railway platforms and
surroundings areas of railway stations is
not acceptable to foreign tourists.
Platform should be clean and easily
approachable for elderly and physically
challenged people.
9) Availability of wheel chairs at railway
stations
There are not sufficient numbers of
wheel chairs available at railway
stations.
Sufficient number of wheel chairs be
available at all the railways stations
10) Special insurance coverage - Safety
and security
Safety and security is paramount for
all travellers. Present insurance
coverage for Indian and foreign
passengers travelling on any of the
train sector is:
a) `4 lakh per pax for the normal
trains
b) `10 lakh per pax for the luxury
trains
After the accident which happened on
Sept 12, 2015 Kalka to Shimla route,
confidence of the foreign tour operators is
shaken up and they are very concerned
for future promotion of their groups for
travel on Indian Railways. In order to
repose the confidence back amongst the
travel fraternity in overseas world, it is
strongly recommended that for the
foreign tourists it should be as under
a) As per international norms failing
which minimum `20 lakh per passenger
for the normal trains b) As per
international norms failing which
minimum `one crore for the luxury trains.
IATO NEWSLETTER APRIL, 2018 11
IN THE NEWS
S.No. Subject Problems Solutions
11) Medical facilities There is lack of emergency medical
facility at the railway stations.
Medical facility should be made
available at all the major trains
including Rajdhani and Shatabdi
Express trains. We understand it was
proposed to be been introduced in
Duranto Trains and if found feasible,
the same would be introduced in other
trains. Previous minister
12) Proper designated parking for
tourist vehicles
There is no proper parking for the
tourist coaches and vehicles at railways
stations.
Separate designated parking area
should be earmarked for tourist coaches
and vehicles at all important tourist
places and metro cities.
13) Facilities for accessible tourists There are no facilities available for
accessible tourists at the railway
stations and in luxury trains.
a) There should be working escalators
at all the key stations
b) Special ramp to be made at all key
stations for accessible tourists to board
the train
c) Specially designed toilets to be made
in luxury trains for accessible tourists.
14) Marketing by railways There is no proper marketing done by
the railways for promoting rail tourism
either in the international or domestic
markets.
Indian Railways to have an “ Exclusive
Marketing Department” which should
focus on marketing overseas, including
international trade fairs.
i) As a synergistic force, we should work
as a United India force whereby all the five
corporations can have co-branding to
promote each other, thru’ onboard
passengers also.
ii) International marketing materials like
a combined brochure, videos, short
promos, etc.
iii) Participation in overseas roadshows.
iv) Luxury trains of India, can also do co-
branding with exchange programmes
with other global trains like Rocky
Mountains, Belmond, Orient Express,
Blue Train, etc.
v) E-commerce/IT company which does
IT PR work can be hired to do exposure of
luxury trains thru’ social media like
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google
Plus, etc.
vi) Ministries of tourism & railways can
synergise to initiate a Travel Mart in
India, to invite niche train wholesalers
from Global World, for buyers-sellers
meet in India.
15) Wi-Fi at the railway stations Wi-Fi connectivity at the railway
stations is poor and tourists always
make complaints.
Wi-Fi speed to be increased and
connectivity should be made better so
that tourists can make use of this facility.
APRIL, 2018 IATO NEWSLETTER
12
Recommendations
for iconic tourism destinations
I
ATO held a meeting with Rashmi
Verma, secretary tourism, ministry of
tourism, Government of India on
March 19, 2018 regarding developing
prominent tourist sites into iconic tourism
destinations as announced during the
Union Budget 2018-19. IATO made the
following recommendations:
● All the monuments should have similar
facilities and upkeep which should be of
international standard. Hygienic
condition is the main concern especially
for the foreign tourists, and should be
given top priority.
● There should be proper designated
parking area earmarked for tourist
coaches and cars.
● Pick up and drop points with proper
signages should be there at all
monuments. This is very important
because foreign tourists come to our
country on short visits and on fixed
itineraries. Time is wasted by walking to
and from parking place and locating the
vehicles. Also for senior citizens, it
becomes very difficult to walk long
distances.
● All the monuments should be free from
unauthorised shops, hawkers, etc. This
will not only help in creating a positive
image of our country but also would help
to keep surrounding of the monuments
clean and free from polybags and other
garbage, normally used by hawkers.
● Unauthorised guides and touts should
not be allowed to move around the
monuments. There should be proper
monitoring to ensure that
foreign/domestic tourists are not
harassed or cheated at the monuments.
● We must ensure that open areas inside
the monuments and also surroundings
are kept clean in commensurate with
Clean India Campaign.
● There are often long queues at the
monuments for purchasing the tickets.
Number of counters to be increased at
each monument. Also there should be
separate counter for foreign tourists to
save their time by standing in queues.
● Purchase of monument entry tickets
should be available online, not only
through ASI website but also through
'Book My Show' , which is a good app and
is being used by many people for
purchasing tickets online for any event
pan India.
● All tickets should be printed with bar
coding and should have facility of
recording entry and exit timings through
digital entry/exit gates, if needed,
especially for the monuments which
have higher footfall.
● For online purchase of tickets,
procedure should be simplified. No
unnecessary information like passport
details etc. should be asked, as entry
tickets can be purchased at the counter
without any details. Only name of the
visitors should be enough, if it is so
essential. Group ticket facility should be
available without any hassle.
● For the differently abled people, facilities
of pathways for the wheel chair with
proper signages to be made at all the
monuments.
● There should be adequate number of
digital entry gates for scanning digital
tickets with separate entry for foreign
tourists.
● Audio guides, app based guides at the
kiosks in different foreign and Indian
languages should be installed at various
points on payment basis. This
information should be properly
displayed at the entrance and at the
ticketing counters.
● High speed free Wi-Fi at all the
monuments should be available.
● Seating arrangements at various points
near the pathways for elderly
people/senior citizens.
● Provision for designated area/place for
holding MICE and other social events
with lunch/dinner facilities preferably
using the monument as a backdrop
would be a good idea. This will not only
generate additional revenue for the
government, but also additional
publicity for the monuments.
● Points for photography/selfie to be made
with proper signages at convenient
locations.
● Meeting/pick up points for guides to be
made near the entrance gate.
● Assembly points for groups/school
children to be made available for briefing
and introducing the monument, etc.
● Approach roads to the monuments
should be well maintained and clean with
proper signages. No encroachment and
un-authorised parking of large or small
vehicles should be allowed. Also
approach roads should be No Honking
Zones.
● There should be proper walkways for
visitors inside the monuments with
signages. This will restrict tourists to
disturb the horticulture/walk on green
areas.
● Safety and security of the tourists at the
monuments is very essential which is a
major concern. Tourist Police at the
monuments should be visible. There
should be properly manned Police
Assistance Booths. Tourist Police
personnel should be able to speak
English fluently and should be able to
communicate with foreign tourists.
● Toilet facilities inside the monument
area is required.
● Souvenir/bookshops for getting
maps/books/DVDs, etc. about the
monuments should be there near the
entry/exit gates.
● Free drinking water kiosks and First Aid
facilities to be made available at all
monuments.
IN THE NEWS
IATO NEWSLETTER APRIL, 2018 13
IN THE NEWS
● ATM booths should be installed at all the
monuments.
● Monument manager to supervise and
assist the visitors with support of
adequate number of marshals at
entrance gate and inside. They will also
be responsible for the protecting
monuments from vandalism.
Promotion of Rail Tourism
IATO was asked to submit the list of
popular tourist trains on which they can
design strategy for offering seats for tour
groups.
If the matter of group booking facility
for IATO members is resolved, in the
coming season, our members can serve
their foreign clients and show them the
world class service of Indian Railways.
Below please find the list of trains on
which we need additional seats for foreign
quota.
S.No. SECTOR TRAIN DETAIL TIMING
1) Delhi - Haridwar – DEHRADUN 12017 – DEHRADUN SHATABDI 0645 / 1240 HRS
2) DEHRADUN- Haridwar – DELHI 12018 - DEHRADUN SHATABDI 1700 / 2245 HRS
3) DELHI – JAIPUR – AJMER 12015 – AJMER SHATABDI 0605 / 1245 HRS
4) AJMER – JAIPUR - DELHI 12016 – AJMER SHATABDI 1545 / 2240 HRS
5) DELHI – AGRA - BHOPAL 12002 – BHOPAL SHATABDI 0600 / 1350 HRS
6) BHOPAL –AGRA - DELHI 12001 – NDLS SHATABDI 1515 / 2330 HRS
7) Delhi - Jammu Tawi 12425 – JAMMU RAJDHANI 2040 / 0545 +1 HRS (OVERNIGHT)
8) Jammu Tawi – DELHI 12426 – JAMMU RAJDHANI 1940 / 0555 +1 HRS (OVERNIGHT)
9) Mumbai - Aurangabad 17617 – TAPOVAN EXPRESS 0615 / 1315 HRS
10) AURANGABAD – MUMBAI 17618 – TAPOVAN EXPRESS 1435 / 2150 HRS
11) Chennai – MaduraI
16127 – MS GURUVAYUR
EXPRESS
0815 /1605 HRS
12) Madurai- Chennai 16128 – GUV CHENNAI EXPRESS 1120 / 2030 HRS
13) Delhi - KhajuraHo 12448 – U P SAMPARK KRANTI 2010 / 0635 +1 HRS (OVERNIGHT)
14) KhajuraHo – Delhi 22447 – KURJ NZM EXPRESS 1820 / 0525 +1 HRS (OVERNIGHT)
15) Indore – Jabalpur 18233 – NARMADA EXPRESS 1715 / 0625 +1 HRS (OVERNIGHT)
16) Jabalpur – INDORE 22192 – JBP INDORE EXPRESS 2355 / 0955 +1 HRS (OVERNIGHT)
17) Bhopal - Khajuraho 22163 – MAHAMANA EXPRESS 0650 / 1330 HRS
18) Khajuraho – BHOPAL 22164 – MAHAMANA EXPRESS 1615 / 2255 HRS
19) NEW DELHI - DEHRADUN 122005 – NANDA DEVI EXPRESS 2350/0540 HRS
20) DEHRADUN – NEW DELHI 122006 – NANDA DEVI EXPRESS 2335-0520 HRS
APRIL, 2018 IATO NEWSLETTER
14
IN THE NEWS
F
or the roundtable on Tourism
and Civil Aviation on March 9,
2018 in Hyderabad, IATO gave
the following inputs for
developing Short Distance Circuits for
Tourism Purpose under Regional
Connectivity Scheme of
Udaan Scheme:
I) SECTOR TO BE INTRODUCED
UNDER UDAAN SCHEME:-
Following sectors may be added, if not
added already for Short Distance Flights
under Regional Connectivity Scheme of
the Government
Note:-
i) Operations must be from October
to March every year, except Delhi-
Shimla-Kullu during May to October as
per aircraft capacity and frequency
mentioned above.
ii) For the period January to March
frequency and aircraft capacity could be
increased depending upon the
response/requirement.
REGIONALCONNECTIVITYSCHEME
S. No. Sector
Aircraft
Capacity (Seater)
Frequency
1 Agra-Jhansi-Khajuraho-Varanasi 20 Thrice a week
2 Agra-Bhopal-Udaipur-Aurangabad 40 4 times a week
3 Jaipur-Bikaner-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Udaipur 40 Daily
4 Ahmedabad-Bhavnagar-Rajkot-Porbandar-Bhuj 20 Daily
5 Agra-Indore-Shahdol-Kanha 20 Thrice a week
6 Lucknow – Sarawasti-Varanasi-Kushinagar - Gaya 40 3 or 4 times a week
7 Madurai – Bangalore - Mysore 40 Daily
8 Delhi – Shimla - Kullu 40 Daily
9 Amritsar-Dharamshala-Kullu 40 Daily
10 Hyderabad–Warangal-Rajamundry-Vishakhapatnam 20 Thrice a week
11 Goa –Hampi – Hasan - Mysore 40 Thrice a week
12 Varanasi - Bhubaneshwar - Varanasi 40 Thrice a week
13 Varanasi – Patna-Varanasi 40 Thrice a week
14 Port Blair – Diglipur – Port Blair 40 Daily
15 Bhubaneswar – Bodhgaya - Bhubaneswar 20 Thrice a week
16 Bhubaneswar – Varanasi - Bhubaneswar 20 Thrice a week
17 Bhubaneswar – Jaypore - Bhubaneswar 20 Thrice a week
18 Bhubaneswar – Jharsuguda - Bhubaneswar 20 Thrice a week
19 Trichy – Cochin - Trichy 20 Thrice a week
20 Madurai – Cochin - Madurai 40 Thrice a week
21 Ahmedabad – Bhuj - Ahmedabad 40 Thrice a week
IATO NEWSLETTER APRIL, 2018 15
IN THE NEWS
S. No. Sector
Aircraft
Capacity (Seater)
Frequency
1 Agartala- Aizawal – Imphal - Agartala 20 Daily
2 Imphal – Dimapur – Dibrugarh - Imphal 20 Daily
3 Dibrugarh - Tezpur 20 Daily
S. No. Sector Capacity Frequency
1 Tezpur - Twang Daily
2 Dibrugarh – Ziro Daily
S. No. Sector Aircraft Type Frequency
1
Udaipur - Aurangabad-Udaipur:- This will complete the
one of the important tourism sector between Delhi and
Mumbai with Udaipur and Aurangabad covering world
heritage site Ajanta and Ellora Caves and Tourist city of
Udaipur. This will help boost tourism footfall in both the
cities where now good hotels are also available.
Boeing aircraft Daily
2
Agra - Khajuraho - Varanasi:- Khajuraho is undersold due
to shortage of air connectivity and very high airfare for the
sector due to limited operation at present.
Boeing or ATR
depending on the
load factor
Daily
3
Varanasi - Kathmandu - Varanasi :- This was a good
connection earlier where India and Nepal were promoted
together. There is a high demand for this sector and it should
be continued during season time.
Boeing aircraft Daily
II) ADDITIONAL AIR CONNECTIVITY TO PROMOTE NORTH EAST INDIA
To promote North East, additional air connectivity is required to complete the circuit by air. For North East we suggest following
sectors need to be added from March to November under Udaan Scheme:-
III) INTRODUCTION OF NEW REGULAR FLIGHTS (NOT UNDER UDAAN SCHEME)
Following sectors needs to be added in regular route (Not covered under Udaan Scheme). Flights on these sectors are required
during tourist season from October to March every year on daily frequency:-
IV) SUGGESTIONS FOR HELICOPTER SERVICE
On the following sectors, helicopter services to be introduced/re-introduced:
Note: On the above sectors, if Udaan service is not feasible, helicopter service to be introduced.
APRIL, 2018 IATO NEWSLETTER
16
IN THE NEWS
V) SUGGESTIONS FOR PROMOTING
ADVENTURE TOURISM
One of the main reasons holding back
tourism to the India Himalaya is lack of
accessibility. There is an urgent need to
open / re use / reactivate airstrips in
remote locations to enable access by fixed
wing air crafts. This exercise will not only
increase tourism footfalls to these remote
destinations but also reduce pressure from
the existing airstrips like Leh, which
cannot handle huge footfalls.
A) We propose that a three-tier
system may be implemented to achieve
deep penetration into Himalayan
destinations:
i) Large aircraft (Boeing/Airbus) till
main airports like Dehradun, Kohima,
Imphal, Kullu, Leh, etc.
ii) Small 15 - 17 seater fixed wing
aircrafts from main state airports to
connect with smaller STAL / Greenfield
airfields within the state
iii) Connecting heliports to the
Greenfield / STAL airfields to remote
villages and main adventure travel
destination
B) The short term plan will be to
activate the existing airstrips in states
as identified in phase I below:
i) In Uttarakhand: Gauchar,
Pithoragarh, Chiniyalisaur(air strips are
ready but not in use)
ii) In Himachal Pradesh. Kullu (need to
increase flights here). Re-start flights to
Shimla.
iii) In Jammu & Kashmir: There is
advanced landing ground of the defense
forces at those (Shyok Valley) and Kargil,
which need to be opened for commercial
flights.
iv) In Arunachal Pradesh : There is
advanced landing ground of the defense
forces at Mechuka which could be used by
commercial airlines.
v) Strips in Pantnagar, Gauchar
(Rudraprayag) & Chinyalisaur
(Uttarkashi) may be connected with
Dehradun, Delhi and Lucknow.
C) In the long run, the STAL (Short
takeoff And Landing) / greenfield
airstrips that need to be constructed are
the following:-
i) In Himachal Pradesh: Spiti Valley
(near Kaza) and Lahaul
ii) In Jammu & Kashimir: Padum
(Zanskar valley), Korzok (Tsomoriri).
Open Thoise (Nubra valley) for
commercial flights.
iii) ln Arunachal Pradesh: There are
some advance landing grounds of the
defence forces at Zero, Tawang and
Pasighat which could be used by
commercial airlines
iv) In Sikkim : Yambung.
VI) SUGGESTIONS FOR CHARTER
OPERATIONS
i) Scheduled airlines and non-
scheduled airlines should be treated at par
in Goa and other airfields namely for slot
allocation processes, nil requirement of
crew visas, sale of tickets to Indian
nationals on empty seats irrespective of the
sequence or number of operations.
ii) The license of approved or freshly
licensed ground handling companies may
be ratified at par with Air India specifying a
period of validity to avoid uncertainty with
carriers wishing to engage such ground
handlers.
iii) Duty on fuel remaining for
international tourist charter/foreign
registered aircraft and flights operating to
multiple point in India should be abolished
by Customs as this is discouraging and in
fact has drastically affected the multipoint
tourist charter operations to and through
India.
iv) Thank the ministry of civil aviation
for opening up level playing field for private
ground handlers recently as done in Goa.
v) Permission to business and other
visa holders to travel on tourist charters to
India must be granted as the same is not
being implemented currently especially in
case of valid visas being held by the
passenger for India.
vi) The cap on travel of FTO
representatives on board charter flights as
well as the restriction to travel back and
forth on tourist charters for the staff so
permitted must be removed.
vii) Also the guest arrive on charter
flights should be allowed to leave country
on any other flight either charter or
schedule which is currently not permitted.
viii) We must look into the possibility to
extend incentive to encourage the charter
operators to fly more to India. Currently
we have charter operation mainly to Goa.
VII) OTHER IMPORTANT PENDING
ISSUES
Besides the above there are few pending
issues which we have been writing to the
ministry of civil aviation and also to the
airlines but no favourable response has
been received:-
i) Free baggage allowance by domestic
airlines: All the domestic airline were
earlier giving 20 kg baggage allowance and
the same was reduced to 15 kg few years
ago. We have been constantly writing to the
Ministry of Civil Aviation to allow 20 kgs
baggage allowance to passengers keeping
in view the following:-
The reduction in free baggage
allowance has created a lot of
inconvenience to the tourists in terms of
free baggage allowance as the baggage
allowance of international flights to India is
as under:
● Emirates Airline Worldwide - 30 kgs
● Sri Lankan Airlines – 30 kgs
● Qatar Airways – 30 kgs
● Most of the international airlines -
20 to 23 kgs
● From USA some of the airlines – 23 kgs
● Others - two pieces of 23 kgs each.
International tourists while on their
visit to India have reduced buying Indian
handicrafts products due to the restricted
baggage allowance and hence leading to
loss of foreign exchange. This is also the
case with domestic tourists.
It is thus requested that all the
domestic airlines be given the directive
that free baggage allowance of 20 Kgs
should be allowed (as it was earlier).
ii) Capping of airfare: Just like the
government have regulated cab/taxi fares
from airports and other places, similarly
UPPER capping of air fare has to be fixed
so that during the peak season tourist and
passengers are not overburdened with
high air fare especially at last minute travel
due to medical emergency/death or due to
closure of surface transportation
iii) Cancellation charges: Air ticket
cancellation charges are very high and they
should be regularised.
IATO NEWSLETTER APRIL, 2018 17
M
inistry of Tourism compiles
monthly estimates of Foreign
Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) &
FTAs on e- Tourist Visa on the basis of
Nationality-wise, Port-wise data
received from Bureau of Immigration
(BOI). The following are the important
highlights regarding FTAs and FTAs on
e-Tourist Visa during the month of
February 2018:
Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs):
● The number of FTAs in February,
2018 was 10.53 lakh as compared to
FTAs of 9.56 lakh in February 2017
and 8.49 lakh in February, 2016.
● The growth rate in FTAs in February
2018 over February, 2017 was 10.1 per
cent, compared to 12.7 per cent in
February 2017 over February 2016.
● FTAs during the period January-
February 2018 were 21.19 lakh with a
growth of 9.2 per cent, as compared to
the FTAs of 19.40 lakh with a growth
of 14.6 per cent in January- February
2017 over January- February 2016.
● The percentage share of Foreign
Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India
during February 2018 among the top
15 source countries was highest from
Bangladesh (18.28 per cent) followed
by USA (12.40 per cent), UK (11.75 per
cent), Canada (4.36 per cent), Russian
Federation (4.20 per cent), France
(3.24 per cent), Malaysia (3.14 per
cent), Germany (3.04 per cent), Sri
Lanka (2.89 per cent), Australia (2.65
per cent), China (2.33 per cent), Japan
(2.09 per cent), Thailand (1.92 per
cent), Afghanistan (1.65 per cent) and
Nepal (1.41 per cent) .
● The percentage share of Foreign
Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India
during February 2018 among the top
15 ports was highest at Delhi Airport
(30.95 per cent) followed by Mumbai
Airport (15.85 per cent), Haridaspur
Land Check Post (8.58 per cent),
Chennai Airport (6.60 per cent), Goa
Airport (5.32 per cent), Bengaluru
Airport (4.93 per cent), Kolkata
Airport (4.75 per cent), Cochin
Airport (2.63 per cent), Gede Rail
Land Check Post (2.58 per cent),
Hyderabad Airport (2.39 per
cent),Ahmedabad Airport (2.05 per
cent), Amritsar Airport (1.46 per
cent), Sonauli Airport (1.28 per cent),
Ghojadanga Land Check Post (1.27 per
cent) and Trivandrum Airport (1.23
per cent).
Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) on
e-Tourist Visa:
● During the month of February 2018, a
total of 2.76 lakh foreign tourists
arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared
to 1.70 lakh during the month of
February 2017 registering a growth of
62.0 per cent.
● During January- February 2018, a
total of 5.16 lakh tourist arrived on e-
Tourist Visa as compared to 3.22 lakh
during January-February 2017,
registering a growth of 60.3 per cent.
● The percentage share of top 15 source
countries availing e- Tourist Visa
facilities during February 2018 was as
follows: UK (20.1 per cent), USA (10.3
per cent), France (7.0 per cent),
Canada (5.5 per cent), Russian Fed
(5.4 per cent), China (5.1 per cent),
Germany (4.8 per cent), Australia (3.4
per cent), Thailand (2.7 per cent),
Italy (2.6 per cent), Oman (1.8 per
cent), Rep of Korea (1.7 per cent),
Netherlands (1.5 per cent), Malaysia
(1.4 per cent),and Spain (1.4 per cent).
The percentage share of top 15
ports in foreign tourist arrivals on
e-Tourist Visa during February 2018
was as follows:-
● New Delhi Airport (43.6 per cent),
Mumbai Airport (18.6 per cent),
Dabolim (Goa) Airport (9.6 per cent),
Chennai Airport (9.5 per cent),
Bengaluru Airport (5.6 per cent),
Kochi Airport (3.6 per cent), Kolkata
Airport (3.1 per cent), Hyderabad
Airport (1.8 per cent), Trivandrum
Airport (1.6 per cent), Amritsar
Airport (1.4 per cent), Ahmadabad
Airport (1.3 per cent), Jaipur Airport
(0.9 per cent), Gaya Airport (0.8 per
cent), Tirchy Airport (0.5 per cent)
and Calicut Airport (0.3 per cent).
Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs)
through Tourism (in Rs.)
FEEs during the month of February
2018 were Rs 17, 407 crore as compared
to Rs 15,790 crore in February 2017 and
Rs 13,661 crore in February 2016.
The growth rate in FEEs in rupee
terms in February 2018 over February
2017was 10.2 per cent, compared to the
growth of 15.6 per cent in February 2017
over February2016.
FEEs during the period January-
February 2018 were Rs 35,132 crore
with a growth of 10.0 per cent, as
compared to the FEE of Rs 31,925 crore
in January-February 2017 with a
growth of 16.8 per cent over January-
February 2016.
TToouurriissmm SSttaattiissttiiccss:: FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
IN THE NEWS
10.1 per cent growth in Foreign Tourist Arrivals in February, 2018 over February 2017
62.0 per cent growth in Foreign Tourist Arrivals on e-Tourist Visa in February 2018 over
February 2017
APRIL, 2018 IATO NEWSLETTER
18
IN THE NEWS
Haryana to strengthen infrastructure
for religious tourism
The Haryana
government has drawn
up plans to strengthen
infrastructure to
promote religious
tourism, related to
Kurukshetra. Giving
details, the spokesman
for the Haryana
Tourism Department said recently that it has been decided to
spend `38.31 crore on the beautification of 'Brahm Sarover' and
`32.33 crore on 'Jyotisar' under various schemes.
Under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the central
government, an amount of `97.34 crore had been allocated for
the 'Sri Krishna Circuit' out of which `32 crore has been spent
on the development of Brahm Sarovar, Jyotisar, Narkaataari,
Sanniihit Sarovar and beautification of Kurukshetra city.
In addition, lighting work around the main gate and on the
periphery costing `five crore, construction of seven toilets in
the peripheral area, and four in the parking area (`5.25 crore),
and construction of all seven main entry gates and the floor
area (`4.25 crore) is also in progress, the spokesman said.
Similarly, construction of ghaats for women (`1 crore) and
mural painting work on the periphery (`2.10 crore) is also in
progress. The works include a laser media show to be
developed by the ITDC at a cost of `16 crore. A building on the
theme of 'Mahabharta' worth `13 crore would soon be
constructed around the shrine,
New ropeway project to start in Jammu
Priya Sethi, minister of State for Tourism, Jammu and
Kashmir recently said that the state ropeway project will boost
tourism and add to aesthetics of the city.
Sethi also reviewed the preparedness for a trial-run of the
project scheduled for this month. The minister, accompanied
by divisional commissioner Hemant Kumar Sharma,
managing director cable car corporation Shamim Ahmad
Wani visited Peerkho, the first take off point, the Mahamaya
temple, second landing bay area and Bagh-e-Bahu, the third
and final destination where huge chunk of land has been
acquired for developing parking, restaurant and landscaping.
Sethi issued on-spot directions to the officials of JK cable
car corporation to expedite work and ensure that first trial
between the Mahamaya Temple and Bagh-e-Bahu is
conducted in time. The project, she said, is of utmost
importance and going to be the biggest tourist attraction,
besides adding to aesthetics of Jammu city.
She said that successful trial-run of eight coaches will
encourage the engineers, which in turn will boost their morale
to complete first ropeway as well. In the initial stages, eight
cable cars will be put on trial this month and then 12 more cars
will be made operational on first stretch connecting both ends
of river Tawi in the middle of this year. They said that work on
approach roads and construction of retaining wall at Bahu,
besides restaurants at all places are in the completion stages.
Sanjay Razdan wins the SJOBA Sub Himalayan Car Rally
Sanjay Razdan, director, Razdan Holidays, an active
member of IATO, won the recently concluded SJOBA (St
John's Old Boys' Association) Sub Himalayan Car Rally. He
participated in the Unmodified Cars category driving a 1300
CC stock Gypsy. He was also 2nd runner up - Overall in all kinds
of Modified and Unmodified Cars. IATO extends its heartiest
congratulations to him.
Announcements
IATO NEWSLETTER APRIL, 2018 19
TRAVEL,TOURISM CREATED 25.9 MN JOBS
IN INDIAIN 2017: REPORT
T
he travel and tourism sectors
together generated 25.9 million jobs
in 2017, contributing $75.8 billion
(Rs 5 lakh crore, approximately) to
the country’s Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) in the same year, a report by Indian
industry body Ficci and services firm
KPMG said recently. “Directly
contributing 25.9 million jobs, travel and
tourism sectors are among the largest
employment generators in the country,”
said the report.
Titled ‘Expedition 3.0: Travel and
hospitality gone digital’, the report by the
Federation of Indian Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (Ficci) in
association with KPMG India assesses the
trends and challenges in the twin sectors.
“Travel, tourism and hospitality are among
the key sectors of the Indian economy and
have registered a steady growth rate of 15.6
per cent (year-on-year) in Foreign Tourist
Arrivals (FTAs) in 2017,” it said. Mobile
applications, social media, Big Data,
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and
virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) are
likely to shape the future of the travel
industry, according to the report.
The online travel booking sales are
likely to go up at a compound annual
growth rate of 14.8 per cent from 2017 to
2021, it estimated. “India has the potential
to be the sixth-largest business travel
market in the world by the end of 2019.The
growing disposable incomes and the rise of
millennials as the primary wage earners is
responsible for the growth of the travel and
tourism sectors,” the report stated.
India is moving towards becoming a
digitally-enabled tourist destination with
rising smartphone and internet
penetration, along with travel and tourism
companies making use of technology, it
said. “India was projected to have
accounted for 3.7 per cent of the global
digital travel sales in 2017 - making it the
third-largest market by value in the Asia-
Pacific region,” the report added.
IN THE NEWS
IATO NEWSLETTER
TM
Vol. 1 No. 8
April 2018
EDITORIAL BOARD
Rajesh Mudgill
Ravi Gosain
Rajnish Kaistha
Raj Bajaj
Gour Kanjilal
Reema Lokesh
Steena Joy
Sudipta Dev
Shivasheesh Srivastava
DESIGN
Assistant art Director
Pravin Temble
Chief Artist
Ratilal Ladani
PRODUCTION
Manager
Bhadresh Valia
PRIVACY POLICY
For Private Circulation
only
This newsletter is a fully
owned publication of IATO,
with all jurisdiction restricted
to Delhi, India. All rights are
reserved. This magazine is for
Private Circulation only.
Printed by The Indian Express (P) Ltd, Delhi, India
A
TM Dubai is an annual trade show. IATO members have
joined India National Pavilion and many members have
their own stand at the periphery of India Tourism
Pavilion. Members found the platform very positive for further
growth of their business. They could meet various tour
operators from other parts of the globe to cultivate business
contacts from new markets viz Latin America, Africa,
Polynesian countries, Indian Ocean countries, gulf and the
Middle East and Asian countries.
IIAATTOO mmeemmbbeerrss aatttteenndd
AATTMM DDuubbaaii
Indian Association of Tour Operators
(National Apex Body of Tour Operators)
310, Padma Tower II, 22 Rajendra Place
New Delhi - 110008
Tel : 91-11-25750034, 25738803
Fax : 91-1125750028
e-mail : [email protected]
For latest updates please visit IATO
website : www.iato.in
IN THE NEWS
CONFERENCE VISA GRANTED TO FOREIGN
NATIONALS ATTENDING CONFERENCES IN INDIA
I
ndian Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB)
had been persistently following up with the
Ministry of Tourism, Government of India on
the need for grant of Conference Visa.
Ministry of Tourism has informed that revised
instructions have been issued by the Ministry of
Home Affairs, Government of India vide circular
number No 25022/8/2018-FCC, dated February
28, 2018, relating to the grant of Conference Visa
to foreign nationals coming to India to attend
international conferences / seminars /
workshops.
The notification from the Ministry of Home
Affairs is self-explanatory. This will certainly help
ICPB bring in more number of international
conferences to India in the future.
