The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) deserves praise for making its Annual Convention a meaningful business event for the industry stakeholders. Its Conventions today have become decisive model for other travel-trade associations. During last five years IATO Convention has revived from merely a social event to the most sought-after business and networking platform for the fraternity.
Over the years, I have seen IATO Conventions have been a better event to attend because they have delivered brain storming sessions and innovative ideas along with the networking opportunities for the participants. The Convention has picked-up topical issues and debated extensively. IATO has been capable to get the important people to the Conventions; be it chief minister of the state, tourism minister, an eminent speaker or expert from the tourism and hospitality industry; all made their presence felt at the events. IATO Convention has acted as a great platform to sensitize the stakeholders and policy makers in a big way.
IATO’s Sr. Vice President, who is also the Global President of SITE (Society for Incentive Travel Excellence) – one of the elite associations of the world, Rajeev Kohli along with the President Pronab Sarkar, Immediate Past President Subhash Goyal and all EC Member has been instrumental in taking the Convention to the next level. As we all know, today Kohli is the most prominent Indian face representing India Tourism across the world.
While elaborating on the evolution of IATO Conventions in last five years Rajeev Kohli says, “We have moved a long distance from the old boring social event conventions to more business like events where we discuss the relevant subjects and try to impart the knowledge to our members that they can take away and use in their respective businesses.”
Last year the association has introduced ‘Interactive Session’ – an international flavor to the content of the Convention. Adopting best practices from SITE and other Global Associations, IATO experimented with some changes to the format of the annual Convention. One fundamental change was made to take some of the session time into a private zone only for tour operator/travel agent members.
Explaining on the initiative Kohli says, “Why we have done this is to allow us a private space to deliberate on topics specifically of interest to the businesses of this specific member segment.”
This year IATO has amended the format a little bit more. “We want to make the Convention more interactive so every session is divided into two parts a panel or discussion time, and a part for audience interaction,” informed Kohli.
“Every year I have been trying to tweak the content format a little bit. A fundamental approach I have been taking for the five years is that all the sessions need to be directly relevant to the business operations of our members. So if you have noticed, we have been avoiding generic session on the large macro picture but focusing on how people can improve their businesses, how can get new ideas and new systems,” says Kohli.
Over the years when you have only listen the Presidents of the Associations announcing from the podium that “This is the finest minister we have had and the tourism is in safe hands” or “This is finest secretary we have had and tourism is in safe hands.” However, for a change at the last year’s Convention of IATO the President was very categorical in what is the need of the hour for a state like Tamil Nadu that is one of the most potential states to develop tourism.
The IATO President was very clear, unless the state listens to the tour operator’s suggestion and address their challenges, the state will not move ahead. He made some very sensible suggestions to the state. If the state is implementing the suggestions given by the IATO President the state is going to be benefited.
Similarly the Sr. Vice President and Chairman Convention Kohli was very categorical on the decreasing number of inbound travellers. An unofficial survey conducted by the association clearly showed that a large number of prominent tour operators of the country recorded 25 to 30 percent declined in their business.
Well that’s not all, organizing a mega Convention in Delhi on its own showed the strength and will power of the association to promote tourism. It was a remarkable step and an example for other associations to follow.
Initiative like IATO Run for Responsible Tourism is another attraction creating interest among the participants. It’s an attempt to make a balance in intense week of business with a healthy lifestyle and a little fun.
The method of creating a buzz and massive media blitzkrieg about their convention adopted by the EC Members of the IATO is showing good results. The use of various social media channels whether it is Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp is proving the best way to engage with the people. Definitely it has become a key factor in attracting a huge attention and creating interest among industry colleagues.
So whenever we are talking about IATO Convention we should not forget the iconic venues that made Conventions a marvelous event. Whether it was Trident Nariman Point in Mumbai, Leela Kempinski in New Delhi, the Crown of Kochi – Le Meridien or ITC Grand Chola in Chennai added a charm to the Conventions.
