Mega TAAI Convention woos 1,200 delegates
By James Paul | 23 Sep 2002
Kochi:
The four-day TAAI (Travel Agents Association of India)
Convention, concluded here on 22 September 2002, turned
out to be a huge success with over 1,200 delegate participants.
The convention, the first ever to be hosted by Kerala,
proved that the state is capable of hosting big events.
But the absence of many top industry officials, including
Union Tourism Minister Jagmohan, who stayed away from
the valedictory function, took the sheen off from the
high-profile convention.
In his presidential address, TAAI president Jehangir Katgara
made various suggestions to improve the domestic travel
industry. TAAI has urged the central government to consider
relaxing visa formalities by providing travellers from
16 countries visas on arrival. This step is most conducive
to encouraging and facilitating tourism into our country.
Awards for various categories were also distributed during
the concluding session. The TAAI Allan Currimbhoy Trophy
for the best tourism publicity among the states was won
by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation.
Travel Corporation of India won the Indian Airlines Trophy
for travel agents. The Mehra Trophy for the best travel
writer in the general category was won by T Damu of Taj
Kerala, while Kamal Gill of Todays Traveller won
the Sanghi Trophy for best article of special interest.
Lancy George, secretary (Kerala chapter), TAAI, said despite
several
disadvantages, Kochi proved a perfect host for the four-day
convention. We were able to instil that Kerala-touch
in all the events.