By IANS,
Mumbai: Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal has been given the lifetime achievement award at the TAAI Travel Awards during a two-day expo organised by Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI).
The India Travel and Trade Expo (ITTE) 2010 that began Friday saw participation of representatives of various industries like airlines, hotels, tourism, technology partners and allied services.
“Launched in Dubai last year, the event saw newer awards across the airlines and hotel industries,” TAAI Travel Awards chairman Sunil Kumar said.
“TAAI, in its capacity as leader in the travel and tourism industry for close to 60 years, has taken up the responsibility to organise this annual event to award the best in the travel and tourism industry,” he added.
Inaugurated by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation Joint Managing Director Avinash Dhakne and India Tourism Regional Director (western India) Sujata Thakur, the expo showcased all segments of this sector, including outbound and inbound tourism.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who was the chief guest, said: “I am happy to learn that TAAI is an ever-growing organisation which is currently enjoying membership of 2,500 companies with staff strength of over 15 lakh.”
“I hope that the growth of tourism, a sector which is second largest foreign exchange earner for the country, will be reflected strongly in the choice of this year’s awards,” he added.
Other award winners included Taj Group of Hotels who won the luxury/deluxe hotel chain of the year award and Thomas Cook (India) for inbound tour operator of the year.
The expo hosted events like CEO Conclave, followed by sessions on inbound and outbound tourism.