Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), the apex body of tour operators in the country, expects to sign a MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Tour Operators Association of USA by the end of this year.
According to the proposed agreement, both the associations will strengthen cooperation so as to promote the development of international tourism and specifically develop tourism traffic from and to their respective countries.
Both the associations will also exchange tourism promotion materials and other tourism information, including policies related to tourism development and investment opportunities in tourism in each other’s country.
“We are in advanced stage of negotiations with the Tour Operators Association of USA and the MoU is expected to be inked by the end of this year”, Vijay Thakur, the president of IATO told Business Standard.
Under the agreement, the tour associations of both the countries would also agree to cooperate in the development of human resources and encourage participation of the respective members in the seminars and conventions organised in India and US.
IATO is constantly increasing its international networking with professional bodies in the tourism and travel sectors with a view to boost international tourist arrivals in India.
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At present, IATO has collaborations with the Associations of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) and the Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO).
IATO has also inked MoUs with other international tourism organisations like South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE), Uganda Investment Authority and Foundation for Aviation and Sustainable Tourism (FAST).
Meanwhile, IATO has trained around 700 professionals engaged in tourism and hospitality industries throughout India in ten different programmes in this year.
“We provide training to the professionals through seminars and training sessions which are being conducted by IATO every month. The speakers for such seminars are eminent people drawn from the tourism and hospitality sectors”, Thakur said.
IATO is also keen to provide training and other necessary support to the upcoming tourism entrepreneurs in different states.
Though we are yet to launch any formal training programme for the tourism entrepreneurs, we are ready to provide them any assistance and support if they approach IATO, he added.
Asked on the proposed MoU between IATO and the Orissa Government, Thakur said, “We could not sign the MoU with the Orissa government by the end of last month due to unprecedented floods in the state but we expect to sign the MoU by the end of this month.”