The theme of this year’s IATO Annual Convention from December 16-19 in The Leela Gnadhinagar, which was held in Gujarat after 10 years, was Brand India – The Road to Recovery. The speakers gave food for thought for officials and members alike, and it will be watched with interest how things shape up for the Indian tourism industry in the months to come. The highlights of the 36th edition of IATO’s flagship event were that it attracted 600 delegates, conducted 8 business sessions, and included the presence of as many as 13 states, with participation of top brass in the industry and IATO members as well.
The Chief Guest for the Convention was Bhupendra Patel, Chief Minister, Gujarat. The office bearers of IATO such as Shri Rajiv Mehra, President; E M Najeeb, Senior Vice President, IATO and Convention Chairman and Rajnish Kaistha, Hony. Secretary and Co-Chairman of the Convention came on stage to welcome the delegates.
“The 36th IATO Annual Convention held in Gandhinagar from December 16 to 19 was a grand success and more than what we had expected. The convention this year was by far one of the best conventions of IATO,” said Rajiv Mehra, President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO).
The Convention hosted 8 business sessions: Brand India – The Road to Recovery for Revival of Business, Hotels in the New Normal, Connectivity: New Frontiers, SEIS: New Policy under FTP 2021- 2026, Responsible Tourism, Automation and Digital Marketing, Preparedness under New Normal and Dekho Apna Desh. There were state presentations also by Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab and Rajasthan.
Following the convention, 5 post-convention tours were organised and over 200 delegates explored Gujarat by visiting places of their interest like Statue of Unity, Somnath, Dwarka, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Modhera, Bhuj, Patan, Little Rann of Kutch.
