Describing 64th Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) annual convocation, an opportunity for stakeholders associated with the tourism sector the Minister for Tourism Tassaduq Hussain Mufti today said the event will help to boost tourism in a big way.The Minister was addressing a meeting convened to review the arrangement made for the smooth conduct of the convention.The Meeting was informed that about 600 delegates from across the country would participate in the convention being held in Kashmir after a gap of 30 years on March 27.Tassaduq Mufti directed the concerned officials to put in their best foot forward and said that every effort should be to make the event a success.Elaborating details regarding preparations being made by various departments, Director Tourism Mahmood A Shah presented a comprehensive Power Point Presentation in this regard.The Director informed the Minister that all concerned departments are working round the clock to make best possible facilities available to the delegates guests attending the convocation.On his concerns over hassle free traffic moment to avoid any inconvenience to the guests attending the convocation, the Minister was informed that traffic department is taking various measures for the hassle free movement of delegates, besides operating the normal public traffic in and across the city.
The Minster was informed that the Police department has identified various points creating distortions of visual in the city and measures are being taken to remove these at earnest.Mufti also directed the Commissioner SMC to work in close coordination with the ERA for removing any bottlenecks, besides clearing the construction materials lying ideal on roads creating visual pollution in the city.The Minister also directed for removing barricades near SKICC facing lake to avoid visual blockage and making the musical fountains functional, besides up-grading the hoardings, billboards and other visual displays at Airport.The Minster was informed that the participants are looking forward to have interaction with the local travel tourism industry stakeholders.He was further informed that the guests from across the country include Gujarat, Bombay, Pune and Kolkata are expected to attend the event besides prominent speakers including Presidents Indigo Gosh Prof. Wahid Sadiq and Kapil Kaw.The meeting was informed that in the past 10 years, only once was TAAI convention held in India. Such conventions are mostly held outside the country. In 2016 the TAAI Conventions were held in Abu Dhabi UAE, Bali Indonesia 2015, Istanbul Turkey in 2012, Phuket Thailand in 2010, Dubai UAE in 2009 and London UK in 2007.Mufti directed for ensuring quality staff service on ground so that they could host the delegates in more professional manner, besides asking for coordination and cooperation among departments for hassle free movement and hospitality of the guests.Secretary Tourism Sarmad Hafeez, Commissioner SMC Riyaz Ahmed, SSP Traffic Srinagar Tahir Saleem Khan, SSP Srinagar Imtiyaz Ismail, SSP Budgam Tejinder Singh and other officers of the concerned departments were also present in the meeting.