ETAA CONVENTION PROVES TO BE A SUCCESSFUL PLATFORM

The Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA), the sole body to represent non-IATA travel agents in India held their first ever domestic convention at The Retreat in Mumbai. The ETAA convention saw an attendance of 180 delegates and 20 sponsors. The event witnessed companies such as Ezeego1, Tanzania Tourism Board and VFS Global giving insightful presentations. Karl Dantas, President, ETAA said, “The primary aim of the convention was to deliver the message of ‘co-branding, co-operation and consolidation.’ Along with the support of our sponsors and participants, we managed to put across this message effortlessly and created a unique module for all our participants.” At the convention, Mumbai based online travel agent, Ezeego1 Travel & Tours Ltd and ETAA tied up to provide ETAA members with travel solutions to enhance their travel business. According to Kiran Nambiar, Business Head, Ezeego1, the ETAA convention has given non- IATA travel agents a platform to interact with the industry players and expand their business. “Ezeego1 plans to offer a wide range of services to the ETAA members. Our main aim is to offer the travel agents a complete deal at minimal rates.” Infrastructure and software solutions were also provided. Dantas further commented, “As planned, software similar to a GDS has been developed and provided to all ETAA members across India to enhance their travel ticketing and tour packaging solutions. We also plan to jointly organise workshops for travel agents in association with Ezeego1 and other industry operators such as GDSs, airlines, tourism boards and hotels, on a pan-India basis.” At the Tanzania presentation, Jilesh H Babla, Director, Akqua Tourism and Destination said he hoped 2012 will be a good year for Tanzania inbound. He said the coming year will bear fruit to the hard work and efforts of their promotions since 2009. “We are now ready with various packages, which we have released to the travel trade during the ETAA convention. Being associated with the first ETAA domestic convention gave us an opportunity to sell and position our product to the members and participants. I was really happy with the turnout at the convention. It was a job well done by Karl and his ETAA board members.” The DVPC presentation by VFS Global discussed the mandatory requirements and also the problems faced by travel agents and travellers during visa processing for Dubai. Elaborating on future plans Dantas informed, “We plan to spread out two study tours, one to a domestic and one to an international destination, along with our Domestic Convention, over a period of the next18 months. We have Dubai and Tanzania on our radar for international conventions and study tours for 2012. We also plan to have our own office within the next three months.” Dantas summed up by saying, “ I am really happy with the end result of our first convention. Now that the convention is over, I am waiting for feedback that will help me raise the bar for our future conventions.”