MOT Forms NE Committee Women Have the Power!
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Vol. XXXIII Issue 08; April 2nd fortnight issue 2021 A DDP PUBLICATION Pages : 28 ` 20/- com ddppl.com TravTalkIndia. Scan & Share Tourism a priority for Odisha ............. 05 21 travel trends for 2021 .................... 12 Finding the right insurance .............. 09 Connect to Rajkot sans Ahmedabad ... 19 Don’t forgo chances Women have left stereotypes behind, Women have the power! but now there is a dire need to encourage Titled ‘Skill HER for Sustainable Tourism’, the TAAI-WITT and FICCI-FLO webinar, entrepreneurship among them. powered by TRAVTALK, advocates the belief that ‘Empowered women Empower women’. Women from various walks of life talk about being entrepreneurs and honing skills. Nisha Verma Women have always held a very strong The 17 Chapters of FICCI-FLO have ddressing attendees place in tourism and hospitality. Women been working on village tourism. It is the at the TAAI-WITT and make 70% of all travel-related decisions informal sector where women are unrec- AFICCI-FLO webinar and are major buyers and sellers of travel. ognised. We have an MoU with MOT and titled ‘Skill HER for Sustainable COVID has impacted women on a large we have been able to work with the com- Tourism’ powered by TRAVTALK, scale in the tourism industry; the maximum munities, for which we have support from Arvind Singh, Secretary, Min- jobs lost were among women. Hence, states. This section of women in tourism istry of Tourism (MOT), began gender equality must be centre-stage as should get its place in the sun, where we by recognising the change that Arvind Singh Secretary, Ministry of Tourism we work together to restart tourism and work along with men on the journey. At both society and economy have Jyoti Mayal Jahnabi Phookan accelerate recovery. Since sustainable tour- President, TAAI FICCI-FLO, we have three Cs for skilling National President, FICCI-FLO undergone. Where once a small almost all sectors. “Women ism will benefit the local economy as we go women: competency, capacity and confi- number of women took up jobs have taken full advantage of forward, we need to see how we embrace women in this pattern, more dence building. It’s not enough to skill, they need a sense of achievement in government and tourism, access to education and other so in local areas, as this is vital to promote the economy. Also, there is to take this line forward and turn into job creators from job seekers. today they are representing Contd on page 20 a need to skill women collectively with help from the government. Contd on page 8 Prepared for 2nd wave? MOT forms NE committee With the second wave of infections, tourism The Ministry of Tourism has formed a special committee of stakeholders active in the has seen several cancellations. Is the trade Northeast, tasked with identifying new destinations and developing itineraries around prepared? TRAVTALK finds out. them among other things. TRAVTALK speaks to three members. It is my belief that opportunities do not come your way – they have to be created Hazel Jain special committee tasked with and organise workshops and President and Advisor, Tour – and given the present re-emergence of promoting the region even more seminars for the local stake- Operators Association of As- COVID, we really have just two options. One n March 19, 2021, aggressively. They will need holders in terms of providing sam (TOAA), who is part of the is to go back to webinars, give discourses active stakehold- to identify new destinations, them the necessary skills to sell special committee, has made on the future which no one is sure about. Oers from the tourism develop itineraries around them, the region. two key suggestions on what The other is to have confidence in yourself community of the Northeast identify places where events needs to be prioritised. He said, and your organisation, and move ahead region gathered at Radisson can be organised to create Community-based tourism “With the pandemic there is Himmat Anand cautiously, exploring all possibilities. Blu Hotel, Guwahati to form a awareness about the region, Ranjeet Das, Immediate Past Contd on page 16 Founder, Tree of Life Resorts Contd on page 21 BULLETIN Maha promised, didn’t deliver Dharmendra Singh Chauhan, Maharashtra Chapter Chairman, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), says his members are completely broken now and the help that Maharashtra government promised last year was not fulfilled by them. Hazel Jain the bookings had increased done despite reminders to her. rapidly for places like Himachal And we are in the new finan- resh lockdowns Pradesh and Kashmir. But since cial year now,” Chauhan adds. have brought with March, all our members are Fthem the same prob- seeing so many cancellations This is the time to get bookings lems agents faced last year. – it is causing chaos and has Secretary, Tourism, Excise & for agents whether it is Chard- Dharmendra Singh Chauhan taken the members by com- Civil Aviation, Government of ham or Kashmir – all the plan- says that tourist movement plete surprise. Today, there are Maharashtra, had promised ning happens now, he says. But from Maharashtra to other very few movements happen- now, with this dangerous new states had just restarted and ing from Maharashtra – only strain, everyone is sitting at those who have cars. Curfew home. “Even after a year of deal- is not hampering road move- ing with COVID, our members ment. But no inbound into Ma- Valsa Nair are still not ready to handle the harashtra is happening,” Chau- had promised situation. They are completely han says. broken – financially and emo- waiver of state tionally. Every day I get calls Government is silent from my members asking me He is upset that Maharashtra property tax & what they should do. All we can Tourism has not made any ef- electricity bills, do is try and keep their spirits up. fort to reach out to the Chap- They have spent all their savings. Dharmendra Singh Chauhan ter members. “They have not but nothing What the EC members are doing Chapter Chairman ADTOI - Maharashtra shown any inclination to en- now is motivate the members gage us or educate us all this was done and keep their morale high,” while. It is only India Tourism Chauhan adds. because of that, a lot of his that has been active – whether member agents had attended by conducting multiple road- us a waiver of state property His team had planned two the association convention at shows or webinars for us. tax and electricity bills for last more outings for members Kevadia recently. “After that, In fact, Valsa Nair, Principal financial year. But nothing was in April including one to Jawahar which is a new tour- ism destination in the state. But In line with the latest directive by the state government, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj given the situation, they will be International Airport (CSMIA) is offering the regular RT-PCR tests at a reduced cost of postponing them. The Chapter `600 (earlier `850) since April 1, 2021. had recently attended a Water- melon Festival at Wada. GUESTCOluMN Sustainability is the only way Only those tourism stakeholders that implement strategic sustainability initiatives that VIEWPOINT reduce costs, increase revenue and improve guest experiences will earn a competitive advantage, believes Kingshuk Biswas who is on the UNWTO panel of Tourism Experts. History repeats itself ecently I had pur- ing sustainable tourism can certified green buildings and schemes for adopting solar chased a Cadbury be the Ministry of Tourism’s how many tour operators have power at commercial com- RSilk chocolate from website which has a section a sustainable tourism certifica- plexes. States like Delhi and or does it not? a convenience store. On top of on ‘sustainable tourism for tion? None of the major global Telangana have exclusive Elec- the wrapping was highlighted India- criteria and indicators’. OTAs have a search filter for tric Vehicle (EV) policies which Lockdowns, curfews and a suffering livelihood – in bold ‘100% sustainably I think everyone in the Indian ‘green’ or ‘sustainable tourism’ should certainly be helpful to were we too eager to think of them as things of the both hotel owners and trans- port operators. Already, at past or things of a soon-to-pass-over future? The Delhi Airport one can order an second wave of COVID-19 cases wreaking havoc electric vehicle for pick-up and among people and businesses in India and the world drop-off. Similarly, Gujarat has a separate solar energy policy, over has made us take a step back to re-examine our which incentivises any busi- bearings. Had we, as an industry, been over-joyous ness that adopts solar power about markets and borders opening up and some- and there is no ceiling for so- lar power capacity. The latest where forgotten the seriousness of the virus? tourism policy in Gujarat offers Year 2021 was to be one of recovery, having sur- incentives for hotel owners to vived a devastating 2020. But, we may have been a set up electric vehicle charging stations in their premises. The bit too optimistic. Last year people had been wanting policy also offers hotels incen- to fulfil the urge to get out of their homes and travel, tives for converting their hotels and so they did. But, now that they have satiated sourced Cocoa’. I clearly fore- tourism sector should have a certified hotels. Why so? Most into green buildings while in- see that in the coming months serious look at this section. of us in the industry will not be centivising green building cer- that need for the time being, would they be willing or years, we will have more The criteria mentioned are for able to answer the question be- tifications.