Kerala

Draft Tourism Regulatory Authority Bill to be amended: recommends CATO

 

The draft bill of Tourism Regulatory Authority of Kerala (TRAK) put forward by the Kerala State Government should be revised with some major amendments as suggested by the proponents of tourism industry. It was raised from the meeting of Confederation of Accredited Tour Operators (CATO) on 6th July 2018 at Le Meridian Hotel, Kochi.

“Mandatory registration for all those working in the tourism industry is welcomed. However, some of the conditions in the draft bill cannot be accepted as it is,” opined the CATO members. The main points set forth by the meeting are:

  • The term ‘tourist’ should be clearly defined.
  • Giving power to the Authority to take any action by its own could be misused
  • Since the tour operators outside the state and those in online business are not under the authority of TRAK, the Authority could be limited to torturing the Kerala operators only
  • In order to protect the Kerala tourist sector from spurious complaints, an insurance programme should be implemented, same as prevailing in foreign countries
  • All those functioning in the tourism sector should be included in the term ‘tourism promoters’
  • Consortium of the tourism operators to be given the right to nominate at least one member to the Regulatory Authority

CTO President Sanjiv Kumar, Secretary Ratheesh, ATTOI President P K Aneesh Kumar, IATO Kerala Chapter Chairman Sijo Jose etc. moderated the discussion.