TAAI postpones its mega convention in Colombo once again

• TAAI convention rescheduled for September/October 2022
• Cites worsening economic situation and state of emergency as reasons for its latest decision
• TAAI President says they remain committed to SL, will not pull out 

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
The mega MICE event Sri Lanka was waiting to welcome to boost tourism, has been postponed further as the ongoing economic crisis continues to worsen.
The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) that was rescheduled to be held in July 2022 has been rescheduled once again.

TAAI officials of communicated to the organisers of the event in Sri Lanka that a decision has been made to put forward the mega convention towards the latter part of 2022.
TAAI cited the worsening economic crisis and the state of emergency that is still in place, as the reason for postponing the event.

As per the communication between TAAI and the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO), a decision has been made to hold the event either in September or October 2022. The dates are yet to be finalized.

Sharing a comment with Mirror Business, TAAI President Jyoti Mayal said tourism can never be curtailed for long and that they remain committed to Sri Lanka to hold the convention in Colombo as soon as the country is ready.

“We want the Sri Lankans to have ease of living for their basic needs before we come with a strong contingent to revive tourism between both countries. The managing committee and our members are excited, and looking forward to hold our convention in Sri Lanka,” she said.

The 66th TAAI Convention was to bring to Sri Lanka this month over 500 stakeholders from the Indian travel and tourism industry. Over 50 media personnel were to accompany the delegation from India to cover the mega convention and create content to promote destination Sri Lanka.

The event was supposed to be held in April 2022, during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year season.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), SLAITO, and SriLankan Airlines had planned extensively to host the delegates to provide them with firsthand experience on what destination Sri Lanka has to offer to tourists. The SLTPB had allocated a sum of Rs.66 million to sponsor the three-day event. National carrier SriLankan Airlines announced it would offer concessions to the delegates on airfare while SLAITO said it would take over the ground arrangements for the entire duration of stay.

The TAAI is the largest tourism organisation and representative body of the travel industry in India. India is a key source market for Sri Lanka Tourism and for many months has emerged as the largest tourist traffic generator.