The fifth edition of India International Travel & Tourism (IITT) Exhibition was organised from 11th to 13th January in Mumbai with a record increase of 30% in the visitor footfall as compared to its previous edition in 2017.
This year, IITT 2018 organised 5 knowledge sessions where senior delegates across the travel industry deliberated on issues concerning the travel and tourism industry worldwide.
Amod Thatte, Head Product, Contracting & Innovation at SOTC, participated in the panel discussion on ‘Challenges of the Burgeoning Indian Outbound’ which was moderated by Manoj Gursahani, President-Visit USA Committee. Other panelists included Sheetal Munshaw, Director – India, Atout France, Mahendra Vakharia, President, OTOAI & MD, Pathfinders Holidays Pvt. Ltd., Sudhir Patil, Founder & Director, Veena World, Nagsri Prasad, Head – Outbound Holidays, Mercury Travels, Thomas Pappachan, Director – Outbound, Harvey India Tours and Travels Pvt. Ltd. and Himanshu Patil, Director- Kesari Tours.
Amod addressed the issue on lack of airport infrastructure in the country. He emphasized that state-of-the-art airports are a must in Tier – II and III cities of India with more flights scheduled to come under the UDAN scheme. He spoke of how in the last few years, direct flights to destinations like Thailand, Dubai, Maldives have started from cities like Lucknow, Varanasi, Thiruvananthpuram, etc. With India sending about 50 million outbound tourists by 2020, airport infrastructures need to be improved.
IITT saw over 3,000 pre-fixed meetings and two-day panel discussions focusing on key industry issues comprehensively.