The upcoming Annual Convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), to be scheduled from December 16-19 in The Leela Gnadhinagar, Gujarat is set to offer a new dimension to the India tourism. The Convention will see a galaxy of leaders sharing their mind with the audience. The theme of the Convention is Brand India : The Road to recovery.
The inauguration of the 4-day Convention will take place in the evening of December 16, 2021. The Chief Guest for the Convention is Bhupendra Patel, Chief Minister, Gujarat. He will be joined by other Ministers of Gujarat, Union Tourism Secretary, Arvind Singh; Hareet Shukla, Secretary, Tourism, Devasthanam Management, Civil Aviation & Pilgrimage, Govt. of Gujarat and 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.
The Convention will have as many as 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. The Valedictory session is taking on December 18, 2021. There are state presentations also by Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab and Rajasthan.
T3 carries here the agenda of the Convention:
PROGRAMME
36th IATO ANNUAL CONVENTION
16th – 19th DECEMBER 2021, GANDHINAGAR, GUJARAT
THEME
BRAND INDIA – The Road to Recovery
DAY 1 – Thursday, 16th December,
1630 – 1710 hrs Delegates start arriving at The Leela Gandhinagar, High Tea and proceed to the convention hall for inaugural function
1710 – 1725 hrs Cultural Programme
1730 – 1735 hrs Arrival of Chief Guest. Start of Inaugural Ceremony with Traditional Welcome and lighting of lamp
1735 – 1740 hrs Welcome Address by Shri E.M. Najeeb, Senior Vice President, IATO and Chairman 36th IATO Annual Convention
1740 – 1750 hrs Presidential Address by Shri Rajiv Mehra, President – IATO
1750 – 1800 hrs Address by Shri Hareet Shukla, Secretary, Tourism, Devasthanam Management, Civil Aviation
& Pilgrimage, Govt. of Gujarat
1800 – 1810 hrs Address by Shri Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India
1810 – 1830 hrs Address by the Guest of Honour, Shri Arvindbhai Raiyani, Minister of State for Transport, Civil
Aviation, Tourism, and Pilgrimage Development, Govt. of Gujarat*
1820 – 1830 hrs Address by the Guest of Honour, Shri Purnesh Modi, Minister of Road & Building, Transport,
Civil Aviation, Tourism and Pilgrimage Development, Government of Gujarat*
1830 – 1835 hrs Release of IATO Manual 2021-22
1835 – 1845 hrs Presentation of IATO Hall of Fame Awards 2021. Acceptance speech by the recipients.
1845 – 1900 hrs Address by the Chief Guest – Shri Bhupendra Patel, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat
1900 – 1910 hrs Presentation of Mementos
1910 – 1915 hrs Vote of Thanks by Mr. Rajnish Kaistha, Hony. Secretary and Co-Chairman, 36th IATO Annual
Convention
1930 – 1945 hrs Inauguration of India Tourism Fair/Mart – 2021 at The Leela Gandhinagar
2000 -2230 hrs Culture Programme. Evening Entertainment by Abhijeet Sawant Group. Dinner at The Leela
Gandhinagar, hosted by Gujarat Tourism.
DAY 2 – Friday, 17TH December, 2021
0630 – 0800 hrs IATO Run for Responsible Tourism
0950 hrs Delegates to assemble in the convention hall and take seats
1000 – 1005 hrs Starts of Business Sessions – Opening Remarks by Mr. Ravi Gosain, Vice President, IATO
1005 – 1100 hrs Business Session 1 – Brand India – The Road to Recovery for Revival of Business
Moderator – Mr. Pronab Sarkar, Immediate Past President IATO
Speakers
Mr. Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India
Dr. V. Venu, Addl. Chief Secretary (Tourism), Government of Kerala
Mr. Hareet Shukla, Secretary Tourism, Devasthanam Management, Civil Aviation Pilgrimage, Govt. of Gujarat
Mr. Anil Chadha, Divisional Chief Executive, ITC Limited – Hotels Division
Mr. Rajeev Kohli, Joint Managing Director, Creative Travel Pvt. Ltd
1100 – 1120 hrs Special Session on Gujarat Tourism
Moderator – Mr. Rahul Chakravarty, COO, IATO
Speakers
Mr. Jenu Devan, Managing Director, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd.
Mr. Mike Vaghela, Managing Director, Vaghela Hospitalities
1120 – 1130 hrs State Presentation 1 – Uttar Pradesh Tourism
1130 – 1200 hrs Tea/Coffee Break
1200 – 1210 hrs State Presentation 2 – Uttarakhand Tourism
1210 – 1305 hrs Business Session 2 – Hotels in the New Normal
Moderator – Homa Mistry, CEO, Trail Blazer Tours
Speakers
Mr. Nakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC Hotels & Chairman FAITH
Mr. Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO, The Indian Hotels Company Limited
Mr. Anuraag Bhatnagar, C.O.O., The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts
Mr. Ajay Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts
1305 – 1315 hrs State Presentation 3- Jammu & Kashmir Tourism / Announcement of Door Prizes
1315 – 1415 hrs Lunch/B2B
1400 – 1450 hrs Business Session 3 – Connectivity: New Frontiers
Moderator – Mr. Aashish Gupta, Consulting CEO – FAITH
Speakers
Mr. Shri Rajiv Jalota, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust
Mr. Suman Prasad Singh, Joint Secretary, Min. of Road Transport & Highways, Govt. of India*
Mr. Rajiv Jain, Addl General Manager (Tourism), Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)
Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy & Revenue Officer, IndiGo
Mr. Raj Singh, Chairman, Antara Luxury River Group
1450 – 1500 hrs State Presentation 4 – Kerala Tourism
1500 – 1550 hrs Business Session 4 – SEIS: New Policy under FTP 2021- 2026
Moderator – Mr. Pronab Sarkar, Immediate Past President, IATO
Speakers
Mr. Raj Muthuraj, Additional DG. Directorate General of Foreign Trade
Dr. Abhay Sinha, Director General, Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC)
Mr. Bipin Sapra, Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
1550 – 1600 State Presentation 5 – Karnataka Tourism
1600 – 1630 hrs Tea/Coffee Break
1630 – 1715 hrs Business Session 5 – Responsible Tourism
Moderator – Ms. Anjuna Dhir, Executive Director, Responsible Tourism Society of India (RTSOI)
Speakers
Mr. Arunkumar M. Solanki, Addl Chief Secretary, Forests & Environment, Government of Gujarat *
Mr. Michael Dominic, C.E.O. CGH Earth
Mr. Rakesh Mathur, President, The Responsible Tourism Society of India (RTSOI)
Mr. Anirudh Chaoji, Hony. Treasurer, Responsible Tourism Society of India (RTSOI
1715 – 1725 hrs State Presentation 6 – Punjab Tourism / Announcement of Door Prizes
2000 – 2230 hrs Evening Entertainment by Jimmy Felix and Group. Karaoke Singing competition. Dinner hosted by The Leela Gandhinagar and IATO at The Leela Gandhinagar.
DAY 3 – Saturday, the 18th December 2021
1000 – 1100 hrs Business Session 6 – Automation and Digital Marketing
Moderator – Mr. Ravi Gosain, Vice President, IATO
Speakers
Mr. Rakesh Kumar Verma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India
Mr. Hemant Mediratta, Chief Advisor, The Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts
Prof. Seema Gupta, Ex Professor of Digital Marketing, IIM Bangalore
Mr. Syed A. Asim, Director, De Box Global
1100 – 1110 hrs State Presentation 7 – Rajasthan Tourism
1110 – 1120 hrs State Presentation – 8
1120 – 1150 hrs Tea/Coffee Break/ B2B
1150 – 1240 hrs Business Session 7 – Preparedness under New Normal
Moderator – Mr. SanJeet, Director, DDP Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Speakers
Mrs. Rupinder Brar, Addl. Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India
Ms. Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India
Mr. Parveen Chander Kumar, Sr. Vice President – S&M, The Indian Hotels Company Ltd.
Mr. Harish Mathur, Executive Committee Member, IATO
1240 – 1250 hrs State Presentation – 9/Announcement of Door Prizes
1250 – 1350 hrs Lunch/B2B
1350 – 1420 hrs Business Session 8 – Dekho Apna Desh
Moderator – Mr. Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO
Speaker – Mrs. Rupinder Brar, Addl. Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of
1420 – 1430 hrs State Presentation 10
1430 – 1530 hrs Valedictory Session
Chief Guest- Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Union Minister of State, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; and Union Minister of State, Ministry of Tourism*
Mr. Rakesh Kumar Verma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India
Mrs. Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India
Mr. Hareet Shukla, Secretary Tourism, Devasthanam Management, Civil Aviation &Pilgrimage, Govt. of Gujarat
Mr. Jenu Devan, Managing Director & Commissioner Tourism, Govt. of Gujarat
1530 – 1600 hrs Tea Break/B2B
1600 – 1700 hrs Motivational Session – Motivational Speaker – Mr. Ashish Vidyarthi
1700 – 1745 hrs Award Presentation Ceremony/Announcement of Door Prizes
2000 – 2230 hrs Evening Entertainment by Urvashi Arora Group. Dinner hosted by IATO
Day 4 – Sunday, the 19th December 2021
Delegates Check out. Post-Convention Tours
*Confirmation awaited
Note:
Door prizes will be announced as mentioned above. However, door prizes will be given to delegates who are physically present in the hall at the time of announcement.
Programme is subject to change due to any force majeure reason.
