CHATT aims to bring small hotels, home and travel partners at the forefront and enable recovery from COVID-19.

Confederation of Hospitality, Technology and Tourism Industry (CHATT) on Wednesday hosted a virtual digital launch event. Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister for Tourism and Culture (Independent Charge), Government of India, was the Chief Guest. 

Arvind Singh, Secretary Tourism - Government of India; Rakesh Verma, Joint Secretary - Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General - Ministry of Tourism, Government of India were also present in the online event.

The association comprises start-up founders and business leaders such as Amanpreet Bajaj, General Manager, Airbnb - India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Nishant Pitti, Co- Founder & CEO - EaseMyTrip.com; Rohit Kapoor, CEO - OYO India & Southeast Asia, and Dhruv Shringi, Co-Founder and CEO - Yatra.com.

To empower the voice of smaller operators in the ecosystem, travel and hospitality tech players - Airbnb, EaseMyTrip, OYO and Yatra - came together to back and enable an industry association - Confederation of Hospitality, Technology and Tourism Industry (CHATT).

CHATT aims to promote domestic tourism, lead the digital transformation of tourism related business and operating models, proactively engage via advocacy programmes to be a thought leader, impart educational training and beneficial programs to all industry segments. Every member will be able to access all CHATT resources and benefits, including participation in year-round programs, signature business events, access to the travel-tech ecosystem, including the experts and regional leads among others.

The Union Tourism Minister lauded the efforts of the new-age technology, travel and hospitality companies who have come together to promote the interest of the smallest and often under-represented operators and work together with the government on various fronts in this space.

While launching CHATT, the Tourism Minister said, “CHATT’s formation is a landmark decision to boost India’s robust domestic tourism market and support small hotel partners, homeowners, agents to expand their offerings catering to the needs of tourists. The Tourism Ministry is continuously making efforts to make the data available of hotels, home-stays on the unified portal - NIDHI to benefit tourists and CHATT will play a crucial role in it.”

He further added that vaccination will drive the tourism sector's revival and that they are working on a uniform policy and setting up protocols for travellers getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

“The work of CHATT is going to be important for promoting the interests of the small enterprises in the industry, by leveraging digital initiatives, and ongoing dialogue with the government - a role that has become all the more crucial in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our aim is to lead these efforts and fill in the missing pieces of technology, innovation in the tourism and hospitality industry," founding members of CHATT concluded.