Travel agents are key stakeholders in India’s travel and tourism landscape. They play a critical role in planning, booking, and facilitating travel and holidays. Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) is India’s oldest and leading association of travel agents. However, in the overall organizational set-up, TAAI’s local leadership, particularly its region-level office-bearers have a critical role to play in hearing and addressing issues and challenges being confronted by their agency members.
It is pertinent to recall that TAAI has four Regions, each headed by a chairperson. T3 gets in touch with the regional chapters to find out what challenges their regions are facing and what initiatives they have taken in recent times.
Initiatives at regions-level
Starting with initiatives in TAAI – Western Region (WR), Rajesh Poddar, Chairman of TAAI’s Western Region, said that when Go First Airlines went to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the Western Region’s leadership immediately reached out to its members and helped them fill the debt recovery forms. Poddar further said that with tax collected at source (TCS) around the corner, we had an interactive session with GMJ Associates who guided members with TCS rules. Members of the TAAI-WR had a session with IDFC Bank, which helped members with alternate payment solutions. TAAI – Western Region is the most powerful region as economically strong states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat, and Goa come within this region.
Talking about initiatives undertaken by TAAT – Southern Region, its chairperson Devaki Thiyagarajan, informed that TAAI – SR invited national and regional heads of various Schengen countries from the VFS Global side to give a detailed presentation and deliberate on the issues and challenges faced in the issuance of visas. With VFS Global, TAAI – SR has raised the matter of travel agents’ ID and mail ID exclusively for members and sought preference for TAAI members.
In the budget 2023-24, the finance minister increased TCS rates to be collected on outbound tour packages from 5% to 20% effective 1st July 2023. This has been a big cause of concern to travel agents. On the TCS issue, Thiyagarajan said that TAAI – SR arranged for a presentation by GMJ Associates from Mumbai explaining the impact of the amendment and the intricacies of the rules and regulations that will apply. It was a very informative and helpful interaction.
Coming to TAAI – Eastern Region (ER) and initiatives taken by its team, its chairman Manav Soni said, “In the TAAI – ER, we have been trying to keep all our members updated and occupied with the new as well as existing products.” Soni added that TAAI–ER has successfully conducted many knowledge-based sessions for its members. “We have tried and will keep on working towards making TAAI – ER as the trusted voice with the Government bodies, airlines, tourism boards, in fact in the entire tourism and hospitality industry,” Soni further said.
Challenges faced by agents
Regions are different, but in every region of TAAI, its members are facing almost similar challenges such as an increase in TCS rate application to outbound tour packages, the bankruptcy of Go First Airlines, and so on. Talking about challenges before members of TAAI in the Western Region, Poddar said that an important challenge the WR members as travel consultants are facing is that airlines are squeezing the credit policy.
To solve this problem, Poddar pointed out that they are in talks with banks to issue credit cards to the WR members and also speaking to airlines to accept credit cards as a pass. Agents are also facing visa-related issues. We are facing issues with visas for which we have regular meetings and discussions with VFS Global to ease visa problems. We also have regular training sessions for front-line staff with the team of VFS Global.” Poddar informed that TAAI-WR is regularly interacting with the national body to take our issues of airline credit security and TCS/GST matters to the respective ministry.
Other than the TCS issue, Go First Airlines’ filing for bankruptcy has been a big challenge for agents across the regions. About challenges in TAAI-ER, Soni said that the biggest challenge faced in the Eastern Region is that despite being one of the major contributors to the industry, we are counted in the tier-2 region. “Due to such misconception, not all airlines, tourism boards, and other suppliers reach out to us,” lamented Soni. However, Soni added that TAAI is making sure that they are tourism boards, international airlines, or suppliers; everyone finds confidence in reaching out to the Eastern Region. “The Eastern Region lacks opportunities, not talent,” said Soni.
TCS, GO First’s Bankruptcy Key Agency Concerns, TAAI Regional Chapters
