The 32nd Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) convention is going to be held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu from September 18 to 21, 2016 at ITC Grand Chola. The theme for the convention is ‘Expectations and Reality: Bridging the Gap’, and the association once again comes together to identify and tap the true potential of the tourism industry in India
Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has held its conventions in various states over the years to promote the destinations and also introduce the operators to new trends in the travel industry. The convention has always received immense support of the government and other fraternity members. IATO’s first convention was organised at The Ashok Hotel in New Delhi in 1983. It was held under the presidency of Ram Kohli, the founder of IATO from Creative Travels. Khurshid Alam Khan, union minister of tourism, Govt. of India at that time was invited as the chief guest. The convention was themed as ‘Tourism: the Largest Foreign Exchange Earner’ to take tourism a step further by drawing out guiding strategies. One of the major achievements of the first convention was the formulation of a long term programme to make tourism one of the biggest foreign exchange earning industries. A policy was drawn to work with the government to put India on the global tourism map.
The next two conventions were held at the same venue, in 1985 and 1986. There was no convention in 1984 which gave the association much needed time to secure more incentives for the tourism industry. The next year was a crucial one for the team as they were successful in building ties with other associations. Therefore in 1986, the convention worked closely with the ministry of tourism and other associations like PATA, ITTA, FHRAI, etc, to make its mark as a collective body of tour operators. In the same year IATO helped the government in formulating the tourism policy by providing valuable inputs on issues like the National Committee on Tourism.
The association created another historic moment as their fifth convention themed ‘Tourism:Bridge to World Peace’, which was held in Lahore as a joint venture with the Travel Agents Association of Pakistan (TAAP). India was represented by more than 100 delegates and it is said the inbound tourist arrivals from Pakistan was more than 135,000 in the year 1987. At the seventh convention in Jaipur in 1990, Edmun Hillary was awarded the ‘Hall of Fame’ along with Kundan Lal, founder of Moti Mahal restaurant. The yearly convention continued to be a platform for policy making and effective dialogue.
While the 11th convention was inaugurated by the then prime minister, P V Narsimha Rao at Vigyan Bhawan, while the 13th convention promoted tourism in states like Jammu and Kashmir and the North East. In the coming years the convention continued to boost tourism across the country and also direct the members’ interest in curating unique products. The IATO team has introduced various new events through the years. There have been charity runs, silent auctions, panel discussions among other events that add more value to the cause. The association has also served as a facilitator for policies to get adventure tourism, culture tourism, religious tourism, wellness tourism and other specialties to the world’s notice. Since its inception, the association has brought forward industry stakeholders on a single platform to broaden their learning horizons. The single motive is to come together as a team and identify the potential that lies within the country. The efforts continues as the association hosts the 32nd convention in the state of Tamil Nadu directed by a theme that would help the industry in the long run.