At the recently concluded Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) elections, a new committee has been elected for the term 2017-19. Along with that, Mahendra Vakharia, managing director of Pathfinders Holidays Pvt Ltd has been elected as the new president of OTOAI.

Vakharia took over from Guldeep Singh Sahni, the presiding officer of OTOAI. The elections held nationally on November 27, 2017, witnessed Vakharia emerging as the winner of the national, non-profit organisation comprising India’s outbound tour operators and travel agents as members.

“We are currently giving finishing touches to tasks and projects. We had previously undertaken to give the new committee a strong base in their transitory period to take our hard work even further during their tenure,” Sahni stated prior to the elections.

Hearty Congratulation from Pathfinders Team to Mr. Mahendra Vakharia for being elected as the President of Outbound Tour Operators Association Of India. It is a great moment of pride & celebration for our entire team.#Pathfinders #Contratulation #ProudMoment pic.twitter.com/lMkJ1WoGSo

— Pathfinders Holidays (@PathfindersH) November 28, 2017

Himanshu Patil, Kesari Tours, Mumbai has been elected as the vice president of OTOAI. The post of general secretary and joint secretary went to Chitra Bhatia of Aashman Travels and Gurdeep Singh Gujral of Gujral Tours and Travels from New Delhi respectively. Sidharth Khanna, Khanna Enterprises, New Delhi has been appointed as the treasurer of the association for the term of 2017-19.

The executive committee members of OTOAI for the term of 2017-19 will include Riaz Munshi, N Chirag Travels, New Delhi; Shravan Bhalla, High Flyer, New Delhi;  Ankush Nijhawan, TBO, NCR, Delhi; Rajeev Sabharwal, Gaurav Travels, New Delhi; Sujit Nair, Akquasun Holidays India P. Ltd, Mumbai; and Adl Abdul Karim, Creative Tours & Travel, Mumbai.

Upon winning the elections, Vakharia stated, “The top priorities now are to increase our membership in south and east regions and to organise formal meetings with consulates and embassies for visa related issues faced by industry members. In addition to this, the aim is to arrange for interactive events and meeting for members while introducing global trends and scenario to them.”