To celebrate 60 years of its association with the travel trade, the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), will be celebrating their diamond jubilee this month. TAAI, a nodal association of the travel fraternity is known to be a transparent and democratic association and perhaps the only association where all past presidents are proactively involved. The celebrations will include the TAAI Travel Awards and will be held in conjunction with the Indian Travel and Trade Expo (ITTE). The IITE will serve as a perfect platform for participants to showcase their destinations to about 2,000 key decision makers of the travel and tourism trade and will be held on December 16 and 17, 2011 at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. Iqbal Mulla, President TAAI says, “Our main concentration is on the TAAI golden jubilee, “We are calling all 17 past presidents of TAAI under one roof to honour them and learn from their past experiences.” He further added, “ITTE 2011 will be an informative gathering. This expo is designed to direct business to other related industries and will also serve as a networking platform. At the exhibition we will have about 30-40 stalls including Ministry of Tourism Government of India; State Tourism Boards; NTOs such as Turkey, Mauritius, Germany; medical tourism; tour operators; travel agents; hotels; resorts; OTAs; MICE organisers; railways; airlines; cruise liners and car rentals. Plus, we are hosting about 400-450 TAAI members at the exhibition.” Running concurrently with the ITTE will be business sessions on both days. The first session of day 1 will be on destination marketing and promotion and the second session will feature a panel of past TAAI presidents who will not only go ‘down memory lane’ but also discuss ‘what’s in store for the future.’ Day 2 will have one business session that will focus on India inbound and India outbound. Mulla feels this event is an ideal opportunity to stand united against the multiple issues that the travel industry is facing. “We need to address every issue individually, analyse them and have a proper debate that will help us reach a solution to take this industry to a whole new level,” he said. The TAAI Travel Awards which will form a crucial part of the diamond jubilee celebrations will be held on the evening of December 16. “This will serve as a good gesture and also recognise the hard work and efforts of the industry,” said Mulla. The awards will include 17-20 categories and the winners will be selected by members of the association.
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