My Dear Friends,
This is my last and final note before the polling tomorrow the 23rd April, 2016, between 11:00 Hrs - 13:00Hrs at the Park Hotel, CP, New Delhi. Would request each one of you to come and vote as every vote is crucial and precious.
As committed yesterday, I have voluntarily offered to end my campaign by 11am today, 24 hours before the voting starts, so you all get some time in peace to reflect and make your decisions.
From the highs of our members’ enthusiasm to bring in the change and belief in my vision, to the lows of indifference and disillusionment of some of us, this campaign has been an interesting journey and a lot of learning for me as a lone challenger of Teamism, Groupism and fixed old patterns that had become a norm in our association.
I have tried to call each one of you, 340+ members to share views, most of who I could reach and chat for good 20-30 mins and some I couldn’t due to issues of connectivity. With those of you who I couldn’t connect on phone, I left a message with a link to my website with the hope that you would spend a few minutes to read about what I stand for, so you can make a conscious decision.
I have done the best that I could, so that tomorrow I donot have any regrets that I did not try hard enough to bring the change that I wanted to see.
What has made this journey worthwhile, is the overwhelming warmth and voluntary offers to help from you all. As promised, the Whats App group, ‘IATO 2016 and Beyond’ that I created will continue as a tool in our hands to express our concerns and share ideas. But this would only be possible with your participation and involvement.
I also want to take this opportunity to say, that whosoever comes in position, we must continue to give support to them to keep the association vibrant and united.
In the end, I would like to appeal to all the contestants, to let not the victories and losses affect their enthusiasm to work for the association. We should try and build a formidable IATO and that can only happen with bonding and togetherness.
It is not about me, it is about us!
Sincerely,
Maharaj Wahi
Shouldn't IATO have its own trade fairs to Tour Operators the exposure and attention they deserve? /
Tell us what you think in the comments below!
Increasing the size of the cake /
My Dear Friends,
What I saw at GITB (Great Indian Travel Bazaar) by FICCI, that ended yesterday, made me feel sad and helpless about the enormity of lost opportunity for Tour Operators in our industry.
We should have been driving business through our own Tourism Fair, but are instead reduced to a small number at these Marts.
In 1992, as the Chairman of IATO Convention under the Presidentship of Shri O P Ahuja, we launched the first ever Indian Tourism Fair (ITF) to increase the size of the business pie for our members, on the model of ITB, Berlin, but the same got scuttled due to differences in opinion in the subsequent years.
Today, SATTE, FICCI, CII, not to mention the international fairs, and many more have taken the lead in this direction as they all understand the importance of Tourism in economic development, which is great.
But the process adopted to conduct these, be it the invitation of buyers, the allotment of booths, or representation, is skewed in favour of the Hotel industry and intentionally or unintentionally bypassing the Tour Operators.
Imagine the change we can bring, if we all together at IATO put our might behind organising a great India Tourism Fair (ITF) each year through a transparent process, that would not only increase the business scope for all of us, but also put us in the driver’s seat back again in the context of the Tourism industry, which would ultimately benefit all stake holders be it Hotels, Transporters, Guides or others.
Friends, a lot has been talked and said in the last few weeks, and I am sure some of you must be exhausted with the overflow of communications from all the contestants by now.
So to leave you with some time in peace and to reflect over everything, I have decided to stop my campaign by 11am tomorrow, the 22nd April, which is 24 hours before the poll, voluntarily.
Sincerely,
Maharaj Wahi
its about us. /
My Dear Friends,
I want to express my sincerest gratitude towards each of you for being a great part of our ‘whatsapp forum’ and voicing your valuable views and suggestions.
My resolve to bring the discussed changes alongwith all of you stands reaffirmed. Many of you have also given me great new ideas to redefine IATO’s role in context of the larger picture of our industry.
Today, with great humility, I wish to share with you a few glimpses of my work in the the past, to help you know me better.
Key Positions Held:
President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO 2001-03)
International:
§ Globalised the ‘Indian Association of Tour Operators’ and brought in international memberships. Signed significant MOUs with trade bodies of countries eg. Indonesia, Singapore, Turkey and the USA.
National:
§ Motivated GOI to apply an Integrated Communication Strategy for Branding India and prompted the launch of ‘Incredible India’ campaign.
§ Created and supported Marketing buzz for country’s tourism products by showcasing potential regions under the brands ‘Look East’, ‘Look South’, ‘Look West’ for the first time.
§ Expanded the reach of IATO by Introducing state-wise chapters, resulting in the creation of 22 new chapters.
§ Spokesperson for Travel Industry (TAAI, IATO, ITA) at the State Tourism Ministers Conference chaired by the then PM Shri A B Vajpayee.
§ Initiated the first all-industry meet after 9/11, in a bid to unite the entire fraternity and smoothen the effects of the tourism downturn.
§ Along with Major Murli and others, brought in Social Responsibility and Disaster Management responsibilities as a part of IATO’s conscious activities. (Extensive relief work during Bhuj Earthquake)
IATO 1982-2001
§ Involved in the formation, evolution and growth of the Association over the years as (1) a part of the Executive Committee, (2) as a Treasurer and (3) as the Vice-President.
§ Spread IATO’s network and interactions to various parts of the country by holding conventions in the eastern, western and southern regions thus changing its effective status to an All India Body.
§ Introduced (1991) the first IATO manual, the first Indian Tourism Fair and the first set of fraternity awards at the Mumbai convention.
§ Started a special fortnightly IATO news communication which continues till date.
§ As Chairman of Constitution Committee amended the constitution of the Association to make it more democratic.
§ Introduced the concept of interactive Monthly Luncheon meetings for a free flow of ideas and open discussion of member’s troubling issues.
§ Conceptualize and created the brand equity for Hyderabad as the ‘Convention City’ as part of ‘Andhra’s Vision 2020’ with their CM.
§ Recommended for Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh, promotional name ‘Tiger State’ which was adopted.
§ Contributed as Member of Hotel and Restaurant Classification Committee, GOI - appointed to the panel since 1986 and inspected over 100 hotels (5 star deluxe, 5 star, 4 star, 3 star) and over 250 Restaurants for quality checks. Part of the Jury for the first National Tourism Award for Restaurants.
Member:
Uttaranchal Tourism Board
National Tourism Advisory Council, GOI
Tourism Financial Corporation of India
Hotel Classification Committee, GOI
Indian Convention Promotion Bureau (I.C.P.B)
Indian National Trust of Art, Culture and Heritage (INTACH)
Punjab Tourism Advisory Board,
Odisa Tourism Advisory Board,
I am fully committed to bringing in the new era of changes and for that I need your support.
IATO is one large family - a formidable team in itself, And I see absolutely no reason why we should not apply our power of unity to bring in the change, create magic and navigate ourselves to the course of the future to ensure that things get done for the welfare of each and everyone of us!
It is not about me, it is about us!
Sincerely,
Maharaj Wahi
Plan of Action (Final) /
Dear Friends,
Here is the POA (Plan of Action) finally. It has come about with all your inputs and as a consequence of the Agenda I had proposed earlier.
I am of the firm belief that this POA will most certainly bring about the major change required and act as a foundation for entering the new era of progress and business for each one of us!
The 90 days time-line as reflected earlier for our priorities still stands firm.
Plan of Action:
1. Examine together the loop holes and make the necessary amendments in the constitution after a proper process and common census to :
(a) Restructure the Executive Committee in order to smoothly induct the members of all the other categories such as Adventure - Domestic - Outbound - Excursion Operators into the Active Membership of IATO.
(b) Creation of the position of 4 Vice Presidents covering North, East, South, West regions, who will be elected by the members of their respective region. They will be part of Central IATO core, will participate in all EC meetings and will be based in their own regions.
(c) Bring all kinds of Tour operators who qualify under definition of a Tour operator as per MOT / State Tourism guidelines into the Active Members category.
(d) 2 seats to be introduced in Executive Committee under ‘Reserved Category’, 1 for Tour Operators with less than INR 10 crore as turnover and 1 seat for Newcomers who are 1-5 years old, respectively.
(e) Specify and fix the term periods for office bears and/or EC members to maximum of two terms only.
(f) Autonomy for our Regional Chapters to make them truly vibrant and to provide them full support to further their own products and state image.
2. Strategic focus on ‘Incredible India’ global brand image through launch of a new detailed website ‘IATO’s Incredible India’ with MOT’s financial support, that will drive our PR initiatives, digital marketing and also become a source of live news update for foreign partners.
3. Establishing a direct news update and two way communication with the PM office:
(a) to pursue the main pillars of Ease of doing Business
(b) pro-active media management
(c) to pursue legislation for a proper structuring of tourism industry (so that illegal operators / agents / touts can be countered)
4. Strategic focus to optimally utilise Digital Marketing / Social Media with MOT support, to create a direct consumer pull in emerging markets, counter negative media coverage and reach out to the growing online community.
5. Starting IATO’s Mobile Camps for Practical Tourism Training for:
(a) providing practical ground training to member’s staff teams small, large and new comers at their destinations/zones across India.
(b)product management seminars and workshops for the company owners.
(c) holding interaction camps to understand regional and destination problems connected with Govt Agency functioning or otherwise.
(d) IATO’s real-time direct checks of destination’s tourism elements, behaviours and assessment of zone’s tourism image index.
6. Bring in fresh faces / capable members into the IATO’s central working teams and inhouse committees.
7. Optimising use of IT / other innovative ideas for growing business and standardise rate policies / negotiations with Hoteliers / Airlines / other stakeholders for benefit of our small and medium sized operators.
8. Rope in overseas Tour Operators and Travel Agencies into IATO membership to broaden the network.
9. Encouraging and Including women in participative roles.
10. Promoting an eco-friendly and socially responsible IATO brand image and initiatives.
It is simply a matter of being united. I can assure you WE CAN AND WE WILL!!
Sincerely,
Maharaj Wahi
Response to the Open Letter from the current President. /
Dear Subhash,
I feel that there are only 3 points where I need to respond which Iam doing below.
The rest is your perception of me and I wouldn’t be the right person to comment on that. I leave it to the judgment of our members in whose domain the matter now is, without prejudicing their minds.
1. I will firmly stand by my commitment of amending the constitution to strengthen IATO with larger numbers and greater participation into an effective organ of the tourism Industry.
2. I have never spoken about large or small operators. I have only spoken about including all the verticals, be it Outbound, Domestic, Adventure, or Excursion Operators. (http://bit.ly/1TCdTl6 )
In fact, if I may mention, this bogie of large vs small operators was created during the election when you and Arjun Sharma were in two opposite camps, and election was highly polarized.
3. Iam not talking about the 4 Regional Chapter Chairmen (made in 2003 when I was the President) but these to be replaced by Vice Presidents who get elected by their own region and with more financial autonomy, decion making to the regions.
Please see point 10 on my POA. (http://bit.ly/1TCdTl6 )
Also, I would refrain from commenting on your relationship vis a vis your Chapter Chairmen.
Who else but you, would know better, the reason for me leaving office in Nov 2003 and who took advantage of it.
I was never away and quietly watched the fragmentation of the association until I realized I had only two choices, either continue to sit and watch or take up the mantel and bring the change that we deserve.
I have chosen to do the latter this time.
Warm regards,
Maharaj Wahi
Dear Maharaj
I have been reading your posts with some amusement, but now with some concern.
Unfortunately you have been so out of touch with IATO ever since you were asked to leave office that you know little of the reality of our association.
What you propose is to irreversibly change the format and structure of our association. We have a constitution that was vetted over the years and that clearly outs the needs of inbound tour operators over everyone else. You claim to want to remove all barriers of quality and make it a free-for-all organisation ?? That is shocking.
You try to scare people that IATO is an association for large members. That is far from the truth. We have 344 active members and a complete vast majority are small and medium operators. Our IATO EC reflects that as well. I would ask that you be clear and state whom you consider to be large members and how they have taken advantage of IATO. You also seem to be unaware of the criteria to be an active member otherwise you would know that we have members that are adventure, domestic, mice and other specialists.
Every action we have taken over the past two years has been for our smallest of the smallest members, active or allied. If you had bothered to attend ANY our IATO’s meetings over the years or taken part in any activities, you would have seen this. But as you have been INACTIVE and uninterested, you do not understand what is the ground reality.
Again, you are completely unaware that ALL chapter chairmen were empowered with a budget to spend for chapter activities. They have been encouraged to do more chapter meetings. We change some chapter leaders in the past and the actions have been very positive. Our chapters have been consistently engaged with us and have taken whatever support they have asked for.
You are perhaps also not aware that IATO appointed 4 Regional Chapter Chairmen, INCLUDING MR NAJEEB who makes surprisingly claims of no action. These Regional Chairmen were required to help their states on larger issues and coordinate between all. They were free to do any activities and take any initiatives for the good of the members. Some did a wonderful job, while others took no actions at all for their states.
It is sad to see all the misinformation being spread by our former colleagues on the functioning of IATO. The books are transparent and any member can come and see them. The accounts are cleared by the AGM and not the EC. We welcome any claims of a lack of transparency as we know not even one accusation can be substantiated. We have helped complete transparency to the core of our functioning and have never deviated from that.
IATO has no place for petty and cheap politics. The members gave rejected that before and in their wisdom will do so again. We welcome all constructive points for the good of the industry.
Mr Wahi, times have changed. Industry needs have changed. Unfortunately you are stating issues which quite frankly are hollow and meaningless to the welfare of our members.
Arun, we asked you to leave our team for a reason. Your bitterness is not needed. Today our association is much happier without your venom against progress. Please refrain from mud-slinging in the interest of our industry.
With peace
Subhash Goyal
Time for Change : Plan of Action /
Dear Friends,
I am glad to see that our members at large are finally starting to realise the seriousness of the alarm-call. It is encouraging to feel all the good vibrations and non-stop responses coming in from members.
Just to make things clear on the black board; I propose to call an EGM to amend the constitution for incorporating some fundamental changes to accommodate what is absolutely necessary for our real time growth.
The time-line is 90 days:
1. Examine together the loop holes and make necessary amendments in the constitution after a proper process and common census.
2. Restructure the Executive Committee in order to smoothly induct the members of all the other categories such as Adventure - Domestic - Outbound - Excursion Operators into the Active corridor of IATO.
3. Bring all kinds of Tour operators in the Allied Category who qualify under definition of a Tour operator as per MOT and State Tourism guidelines into the Active members category.
4. Specify and fix the term periods for office bears and/or EC members to maximum of two terms only.
5. Make it mandatory for all IATO’s elected Presidents and/or Committee Members to sign a pledge “not to use IATO office for any personal or business gains” in any form.
6. Autonomy for our Zonal Chapters to make them truly vibrant and to provide them full support to further their own products and state image.
7. Decentralising of decisions making process and system of transparency in IATO’s working. Make public the accurate contacts data of Members.
8. Bring in fresh faces and capable, meritorious members into the IATO’s central working teams and inhouse committees.
9. Grant of special IATO status for all new comers and small size operators regardless of their turnovers or years in business.
10. Creation of the position of 4 Vice Presidents covering East, West, North, South, who will be elected by the members of each region. They will be part of the office bearers at Central IATO level and will be based in their own states under the regions. They will participate in all EC meetings.
After this 90 Days time-line..
- Strategical focus on ‘incredible india’ global branding image.
- Establishing direct news update communication with PM office.
Many constructive suggestions are pouring in and I will be happy to concise them shortly after examining them and include them, when I put on record my Final agenda soon.
Those of you who agree with bringing in these changes, in order toclean up and strengthen IATO to make it more powerful in dealing with Government Agencies, please do the following act without hesitation for the ultimate benefit of our fraternity..
Comment below : Yes I Agree.
Meanwhile my Agenda remains open for more suggestions or concerns from your side?
Like I have said already, our motivations should really not be about the battles of winning or loosing but about strengthening the real time nucleus of IATO.
Sincerely,
Maharaj Wahi
My Response : a Personal Note from Rajeev Kohli to all members /
My Dear Rajiv,
I wish to compliment you on your communication skills and the warm emotional tone of your mailer. l loved reading it. I agree, team work is the key to positive impact on team performance.
However today my prime concern is as to whether we should decide to choose a team which is pre-formed before the elections thereby taking away the chance of those who have enthusiastically worked in various committees, year after year, and who find it impossible to make an entry into such a fortified and self-elevated group touted by the longest serving and outgoing President as ‘My Team’?.
Under these circumstances we are not only curbing the young and fresh talents from emerging but we are also by default instilling a sense of alienation among those who don’t make it in the polls!
It is a pity that this group trend came into existence only in the last few years and has had disastrous effects on the unity of our Association. One example, when Arjun Sharma’s team lost to Subhash Goyal’s team, it divided the two groups vertically and the loosing team got alienated from the main stream. What a loss of such good workers and highly capable people!
Today IATO is fragmented to a worrisome level, with four Presidential candidates currently already in fray. We should essentially contest strictly individually on our own merits and if elected we must integrate with all the elected candidates in working together, there by making a TEAM of Elected Members.
This groupism phenomena by its nature has compulsive limitations like it doesn’t permit you to appreciate or accept any other persons, outside your ring, even if they have high ranking talents and are capable of great outputs. In other words you allow yourself to get trapped into a very small, self-centered obsession where winning becomes more important than anything else.
By virtue of being on my own, I can openly and sincerely appreciate anyone who has done good work. It does not blind my sense of fairness and gives me the total freedom to choose, appreciate and encourage promising young people and new comers thereby enriching the core of IATO.
I think our motivations should really not be about the battles of winning or loosing but about strengthening the real time nucleus of IATO now.
Sincerely,
Maharaj Wahi
Dear Maharaj, Siddharth :
My personal journey in IATO started in 2011 with a group of industry colleagues. In 2014, we decided our team needed a necessary course correction. Today two years later, I stand satisfied, contented and privileged to have served your industry in a team that has worked selflessly without any personal agendas. I would not exaggerate when I say that the harmony and cohesion with which we worked is perhaps unique in our industry. Even other travel associations are looking at us with admiration. That is why I write this as a proud member of the team that asks for your support.
Henry Ford said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
We took a collective decision on supporting Pronab Sarkar to be our next IATO President and be on his team in our desire to continue the growth agenda. I have spent the past 4 years with most of this team and cannot express enough of my confidence and trust in their ability to work collectively in the best interests of the industry. We have proven this especially in the past two years where each person on this team worked in selfless harmony.
Each one has been selected for their ability to be multi-skilled and give IATO the intellectual authority it needs to help move our industry forward. Each one of us 14 candidates requests your vote as one all-inclusive unit, one like-minded team.
In my personal opinion, the reasons why we asked the 6 professionals to take on the Office bearers positions is very sound -
Pronab Sarkar (for President) has a solid positive track record on leading macro level discussions on issues like visas, taxation, government regulations and others that need to be addressed on a daily basis. He is well liked and respected by all. Thought leadership is critical to growing our industry. He makes a good fit to lead our team.
Rajiv Mehra (for Vice President) has been a silent solider in IATO for many years. He has been asked to move up in our desire is to use his core skills to grow not only IATO’s convention (which has been a great success in the past few years) but to also create more regional and local events to reach our national members. You will rarely find someone more dedicated or passionate for IATO than him.
Ravi Goasin (for Hony. Secretary) is someone who has proven himself to be a strong team player and an ability to bring in new thoughts. As the outgoing Jt. Secretary, he helped usher in IATO’s IT changes, various back-office efficient improvements and also added much value to the road-shows and other elements that needed support. That is why we asked him to take on the Secretary’s role as we now need a next generation person who can help the association grow and not hold it back with outdated old fashioned thinking. We’ve made the office strong enough and now the role of the Secretary is different. He fits the role better than most.
Amaresh Tiwari (for Hony. Treasurer) continues to keep an eye on our money and not only ensure it is correctly and efficiently spent, but also looks at opportunities how to make it grow. IATO’s money is meant to be spent on our members. We are spending more on professional industry consultants to advice IATO and that is money that has been well spent. Some people think that the Treasurers job is very basic, but solid financial stability and growth require someone with broader financial experience and he brings that in.
Sanjeev Joshi (for Hony. Jt. Secretary) is someone who has now wants to move from being an EC member for the past two years to a greater role. He has strong organisation skills brought by his years of hard core industry experience. A firm personality, he has helped our team in many aspects and that is the role he is taking on – to support the office bearers in anything needed.
And about me, Rajeev, well Pronab to me is a friend of 20 years first and then an industry colleague and I would be honoured to serve as his Senior Vice President. I hope I have proven myself as your Vice President for the past 4 years and I ask for your support only based on my track record and future potential.
And don’t forget our 8 fine colleagues who are contesting for the EC Active and Allied. These are not only thorough professionals but friends as well. These are our support team that helps us implement ideas. They bring in a varied list of skills and experiences that help round off the team. Each has had different touch points in our membership and this helps us reach out better. Without them we would not get very far.
My father raised me to never look at a person’s colour, caste, or status. To me, an Indian is an Indian and we are all equal. I find these values echoing in all the team members I stand beside. That is what gives us a common bond. Leadership is not about being divisive but rather inclusive. We have many members across the country, from Kashmir to Kerala, Assam to Gujarat. For us, all have always been equal and equally important. Infact, 51% of our total active & allied members come from outside Delhi, so we truly represent the country. So many members from all over contact us on a regular basis with questions and issues. We do whatever we can to support them. That is why you elected us. This team is national and has always behaved as such.
IATO is about all of us being one – equal, united and inclusive. We hope that through your vote for our team, we will have your endorsement to continue on the path of progress we have laid out in the past term.
Very Best Regards
Rajeev