Skål International India elects new leadership team to resuscitate India’s Travel & Tourism Industry.

Skålleague Carl Vaz elected as President swears in new team comprising senior professionals from hospitality, education, and travel trade.

CHENNAI: Skål International India at its recently concluded Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Wednesday 28th October, at The Residency Towers Hotel, Chennai, elected a fresh team to preside over a recovery program for its Travel & Tourism members spread across 13 cities in India. The historic AGM was held as a hybrid event with members & voting delegates present physically and online.

Skål International India comprises members across all verticals of the travel & tourism industry – hospitality (hotels & resorts), aviation, travel agents, tour operators, OTAs, ground transport, tourism boards, marketing consultants specializing in tourism and several stakeholders from international and local Government representatives.

Skål International India comprises a total of 14 clubs currently covering the cities of Srinagar, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai (2 clubs), Pune, Goa, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Coimbatore, Chennai, Kochi and Trivandrum.

The new Skål International India Team comprises:

• President, Carl Vaz.

• International Skål Councillor, Saravanan Palanivelu.

• 1st Vice President, Sanjeev Mehra.

• 2nd Vice President, Venkat Reddy.

• Treasurer, Ranjit Vig.

• Secretary, Krishna Gopalan.

• Director - Young Skål, Shalini Charles.

• Director – PR & Communication, Vivek Braganza.

• Senior Auditor, Burjis Mehta.

• Junior Auditor, A.R. Suresh.

During his inaugural address, President Carl Vaz announced an ambitious overarching strategy that aims to create an outreach program targeting domestic and international outbound Indian travelers across India. President Carl elaborated that an intense public relations campaign will center on entrenching Skål International India and its members as a reputed and trusted brand, that hinges on fair business practice and that Skål International members cover every vertical of the travel spectrum.

President Carl Vaz commented, “There is an opportunity to develop this area, to the benefit of every Skål International member, which aligns with Skål International’s vision to serve as a trusted voice in tourism. We will in the next 60 days present to our members a detailed strategic plan that aims at driving business back into their offices and aggressively grow the number of clubs and members across India”.

Skålleague Vivek Braganza, Director, PR & Communications, Skål International India, said “As an International brand with over 13,500 members worldwide and over 1,150 in India across 14 Clubs, Skål International is a trusted voice in Tourism. An affiliated member of the UN World Tourism Organization, we support the Sustainable Tourism – Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) Initiative. We believe in doing business among friends, and this Board’s objective is to bring Skål International to the end customer, while supporting our members businesses across the country”.

President Carl Vaz, further added, “Our travel fraternity is faced with a heavily eroded bottom line owing to the pandemic and burden of dwindling budgets of the traveling consumer and corporate clientele. As part of our strategy, we will also have a unique new consumer facing Brand Identity at every touch point in the travel chain from the time they book their ticket, board an airplane, arrive at a hotel, avail of a transport service, dine at a restaurant or relax in spa and even enter an attraction – the new Skål International India brand identity will touch the consumer and in doing so build on the values of a Skålleague being a trusted voice in Tourism”.

President Vaz, further said “Skål International India will seek to enhance its interaction and support of Government initiatives, within India and also at key destinations of relevance to this market”.