The Indian Association of Tour Operators announced the appointment of a new Southern Regional Chapter Chair along with new Chairs in Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and Ladakh.
In an obvious bid to strengthen IATO after the new team took over, IATO Executive team has nominated Sejoe Jose as Chairman of the Southern Region. Jose will replace EM Najeeb who has been handling the responsibility of both IATO Sr Vice President and South India chapter chairman for some time now.
For Sejoe Jose has been the Chairman of Kerala Chapter of IATO for many years. As the Regional Chapter Chairman, Jose will look after Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andaman Nicobar, Puducherry and Lakshwadeep.
James Kodianthara, Managing Director, Concord Exotic Voyages (I) P. Ltd. will replace Jose as the new Kerala Chapter Chairman of IATO.
IATO EC has also appointed a Chapter chair for a few of the State Chapters. Jitendra Kejriwal, Chairman, Arika Tour & Travels (P) Ltd. Mumbai will replace Vasuki Sundaram as Chairman Maharashtra Chapter.
Separate chapters have been created for Uttarakhand and Ladakh with Nidhish Sharma, Managing Director, Garhwal Adventure Pvt. Ltd. Dehradun and Tsering Namgyal, Managing Director, Windhorse Expeditions India, Ladakh as Chair for Uttarakhand and Ladakh respectively.
While welcoming the new regional/state chapters Mr. Rajiv Mehra, President of IATO, mentioned that he is sure that this will help strengthen the IATO membership base for India and especially in Uttarakhand and Ladakh as there were no separate Chapter Chairs in these two states. With a State Chair located at those places, besides increasing the membership base, IATO will have better coordination and interaction with the state governments and the local trade.
