Renowned association of the Tourism industry, India Association of Tour Operator organised the 37th edition of IATO annual convention at the Centrum Hotel, Lucknow. The theme of the convention was: INBOUND TOURISM – What Lies Ahead ! Returning to Lucknow after the gap of 26 years, the 4 Day event was held from 16 -19 December 2022 bringing together more than 1300 tourism stakeholders and making it bigger and better than before.
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri. Yogi Adityanath visited the IATO Convention to grace the event. In addition to the IATO office bearers, other notable personalities present at the event included, Mukesh Meshram, Principal Secretary and DG of UP Tourism, Ashwini Patra, Minister of Tourism for Odisha, Arvind Singh, Secretary of Tourism for India, and Asim Arun, Minister of Social Welfare for UP.
While addressing the closing ceremony, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath said that UP has immense potential for tourism. He said, “There is immense potential for tourism in UP. The result of the efforts of the last 5 years is that UP is number one in the country in domestic tourists.”
Ex-IATO President, Late Badri Bajaj of Perfect Travels, and Sunil Gupta of Travel Bureau were honoured with the IATO Hall of Fame Awards for 2022. Raj Bajaj, son of the Late Badri Bajaj, collected the Award on his father’s behalf. After that, mementos were given to the attending dignitaries. Further, Sunil Mishra, the Co-Chairman of the IATO Convention Committee, gave a vote of thanks. The event came to a close with the gala dinner hosted by Uttar Pradesh Tourism.
In other development, The Centrum Hotel has been declared a five-star hotel during the ongoing IATO Convention. The announcement has been made official in the presence of IAS Prakhar Mishra, Director of UP Tourism, Ravi Gosain, Chairman, IATO convention, and Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO.
About IATO
The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) is the National body of the tourism industry. It has over 1600 members covering all segments of Tourism Industry. Established in 1982, IATO today has international acceptance, and linkages. It has close connections and constant interaction with other Tourism Associations in US, Nepal and Indonesia, where USTOA , NATO and ASITA are its member bodies; and is increasing its international networking with professional bodies for better facilitation to the International traveler visiting not only India but the entire Region.
