From tough talks to team work, from venturing into an unusual destination to witnessing a full house at sessions, the TAFI 2015 convention in Jerusalem, was refreshingly different as it met changes and challenges head on and sent out a message of resilience from a country that is resilient By Reema Lokesh
‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’, this famous phrase holds relevance when we deliberate on what transpired at the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI ) 2015 convention held in Jerusalem, Israel from February 22-24. From fighting mental blocks for venturing into a region that is perceived as non-touristy to getting the convention going against all odds (the convention faced hiccups with flight cancellations due to weather conditions), the TAFI team led by Zakkir Ahmed Kalarikkal, president, TAFI, along with the team of Israel Tourism in India led by Hassan Madah, director – India, Israel Ministry of Tourism and Judah Samuel, director of marketing – India, Israel Ministry of Tourism need a word of appreciation. They together managed to get a captive audience of around 470 delegates. What was also interesting to note that the business sessions received a full house, with delegates giving the speakers attention and audience. The convention focused on voicing the importance of change in functioning on the travel agents area of specialisation.
The intention of the convention was clearly meant to share with the fraternity new age solutions to counter challenges and also rethink and redesign the existing working methodology to suit future requirements and demands. From technology solutions to the power of social media, from demanding a fee for one’s consultancy to knowing newer destinations and growth opportunities, the convention did prove to add value to the delegates. G M J Thampy, chairman and managing director, Riya Travels came back impressed with both the convention and the destination. He felt the convention and the business sessions were fruitful in many ways and said the choice of destination was excellent as Israel is a beautiful country. Bhaskar Sawant, CEO, Uniglobe Grand Skies Travel in Mumbai, was also of a similar opinion that the convention and the destination were both well thought out and impressive. The convention was inaugurated by Jaideep Sarkar, ambassador of India to Israel along with Amir Halevi, director general, Israel Ministry of Tourism; Eli Nahmias, director of incoming tourism and international relations, Jerusalem Development Authority, Israel; Kalarikkal; Pradeep Lulla, national general secretary, TAFI; Bharat Shah, chairman, TAFI Convention Committee; and Rajat Bagaria, co–chairman, TAFI Convention Committee. Urvashi Mohan Dogra and Aditi Bende, committee members of TAFI were leading from the front and as a team they managed crisis with élan. Speaking at the convention, Kalarikkal, elucidated, that TAFI was glad to take this decision to hold its 2015 convention in Jerusalem, which most felt was a challenging one. He said, “TAFI has always believed in being a path breaker and the convention in Israel goes to prove the same. The people of Israel are warm, sincere and friendly and we are glad to work with our Israeli counterparts to build strong tourism ties between the two countries.” The convention also decided to go tech savvy and for the first time a convention app was activated for the delegates to keep in touch with the happenings and events. The convention also played host to some presentations and speeches, especially by the keynote speaker, Sarkar; TED speaker Lior Zoref, Ashwini Kakkar, executive vice chairman, Mercury Travels amongst others.
Show stoppers
Apart from the difference in size in terms of land mass, Israel and India are two countries with similarities. They are a melting pot of culture and cuisine. Classic and contemporary, both nations are strong democracies, ancient civilisations with an inherent respect for each other’s traditions. Sharing ties in technology, defence and medicine, the countries clearly wished to strengthen their tourism connections. This fact of connections was articulated by Sarkar. He highlighted the contribution of the Jewish community in India towards nation building and education and other streams of businesses. He also shared an interesting fact about the Indian embassy’s intention to start ‘Back to the Roots’ initiative for Indians Jews who wish to get back to their connections with India. As a keynote speaker he set the tone for the convention in the most effective way, with a message to face challenges with a broad smile. The convention also brought to light the power of crowd sourcing and its relevance in the business world especially in tourism and travel. This session titled ‘Dance with Wind – Crowd Sourced Travel’ was led by Zoref from Israel. From highlighting synergies to understanding the power of a common force, these sessions were well structured and well placed. However, apart from motivational talks and encouraging growth plans, the convention also brought into focus some tough talks and raised questions on the much debated agent-airline relationship. The session ‘It’s Hebrew’ by Yossi Fatael, MD, Israel Travel Agents Association, raised some pointed questions on the same and he spoke about how Israel succeeded in getting their demands met and accepted by the airlines. He spoke about strategies and methods to achieve the desired results and was straight forward in his approach towards the commission issue.
Kakkar, who was at his best at the convention, took the audience seamlessly across thought, suggestions and warnings, reiterating the fact that ‘Change is the only Constant.’ From the Vuca World concept about the complexities in the world to sending the message out to get future ready now, he was easily one of the best speakers at TAFI 2015. From technology to cloud computing, from new segments of travellers to consumer behaviour, Kakkar covered all this and more. He spoke about charging a consulting fee and improving one’s service quality so that one can demand a price for the work put in. Aashish Gupta, consulting CEO, FAITH also spread the world about best practices in business. Kapil Koul, CEO, CAPA; Gopi Iyengar, senior VP and CMO, Centrum Group; Dr Subhash Goyal, chairman, STIC Travel; and Iris Lavi, management consultant and Art Historian, provided insights into what the future holds in the session ‘More the Merrier.’
Israeli story
The tour operators of Israel who were exhibiting at the convention were positive to work with India both in the leisure and MICE space. Raphael Ben Hur of Israel Holyland Travel stated, “We surely want to work closely with our Indian counterparts and we only hope that this convention will bring us closer to our business partners. We are awaiting some inquires to come in and to work on real time itineraries.” Raz Hellwing, COO, Indo Israel Travels is already doing an all women’s trip to India. He is looking forward to the experience. He believes that two way traffic in tourism will help strengthen the partnership further. For Madah and Samuel, this convention was the result of commitment and hard work and were glad to have hosted a team of travel ambassadors into a country that is ancient yet modern.
