TBM Staff - Mumbai The 37th IATO Annual Convention held in Lucknow from 16 -19 December 2022 was a milestone for IATO as the number of delegates crossed 1000 from all over the country. After the convention, five post-convention tours were organized and about 300 delegates and spouses joined the post tour of their interest which concluded on 22nd December 2022.
The biggest attraction of the convention was the presence of Yogi Adityanath, CM, Uttar Pradesh, as the Chief Guest during the Valedictory Session held on 18th December 2022 at the Centrum Hotel, Lucknow where he addressed over 1000 delegates present there who talked about the UP Government plans about development of tourism and incentives that have been announced by the UP Govt. He gave more emphasis on the Safety and Security of tourists and assured that Uttar Pradesh is today the safest state in India for the tourists. Dayashankar Singh, Minister for Transport, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Arun Kumar Saxena, Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh and Mukesh Kumar Meshram were also present at the Valedictory Session. Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Minister of Tourism, Govt. of Maharashtra through his video message invited all for the 38th IATO Annual Convention scheduled to be held in Aurangabad in September 2023. Rajiv Mehra, President IATO made a request to Chief Minister to help the industry for a 2 minute halt of Vande Bharat at Tundla Junction which would help the tourism industry to promote pilgrimage tourism to Uttar Pradesh.
Inaugural function of the convention was held on 16th December 2022 with pomp and show at The Centrum Hotel, Lucknow,. Ravi Gosain, Vice President & Chairman of the Convention started with the welcome address. Mehra in his presidential speech thanked Yogi Adityanath who could not join for the inaugural function, owing to his busy schedule, for the support being given by his office and giving IATO an opportunity to hold the 37th IATO Annual Convention in Lucknow. He thanked Arvind Singh, Secretary (Tourism), Government of India for all the support and Mukesh Kumar Meshram, Principal Secretary & Director General Tourism, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh for all the support and guidance given by him and his team of UP Tourism. Meshram talked about New Tourism Policy of UP Government and incentives being given to the stakeholders. Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India talked about G20 Presidency and thanked UP Government for taking the lead. He also thanked Meshram for hosting the 37th IATO Annual Convention in Uttar Pradesh. Asim Arun, Minister for Social welfare, Government of Uttar Pradesh addressed the delegates and talked about the new infrastructure development being created in Uttar Pradesh. Ashwini Kumar Patra, Minister of Tourism, Govt. of Odisha talked about tourism infrastructure and development in Odisha.
Hall of Fame of Awards were given to Sunil Gupta, Managing Director, Travel Bureau and Late Badri Bajaj, Managing Director, Perfect Travels & Tours Pvt. Ltd. and Adventure World (India) Pvt. Ltd. for the their contribution to the tourism industry. Sunil Mishra, Hony. Treasurer and Co-Chairman Convention presented vote of thanks.
Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Rakesh Kumar Verma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, S.P. Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Govt. of India, Mukesh Kumar Meshram, Principal Secretary & DG Tourism, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Principal Secretary, Tourism, & MD, MP Tourism Board, Sachin R Jadhav, Director Tourism & MD – Odisha Tourism Development Corporation, Abhay Sinha, Director General, Service Export Promotion Council were the key government speakers in the business sessions,
During the Valedictory Session on 18th December 2022, Adityanath Released the Coffee Table Book on Budelkhand and IATO Manual 2022-23.
