IATO taps ASI to maintain monuments

Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), the apex body of tour operators in the country expects to sign a MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) by the middle of April this year for maintenance of five monuments in Delhi and Agra.

According to the proposed MoU, the five monuments would be leased out to IATO by ASI for a period ranging from 10-30 years.

IATO will be responsible for maintenance of these monuments while ASI would continue to hold the ownership rights.

The monuments identified for maintenance include World Heritage Structures like Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, Fatehpur Sikri and two other monuments.

The objective of handing over the maintenance of these monuments, which pull a large number of domestic and overseas tourists, is to ensure that the basic public amenities are taken care of in a professional manner.

“IATO recently had a couple of meetings with the ASI and the MoU is expected to be signed by the middle of April this year. As a part of our maintenance, we would provide basic public amenities like drinking water and proper toilets to the visitors. IATO is also planning a separate budget head for maintenance of these monuments”, Vijay Thakur, president, IATO told Business Standard. Besides, IATO is also organising roadshows abroad to promote India’s tourism destinations in the overseas market and to boost international tourist footfall in India.

With the Union tourism ministry launching the Visit India 2009 campaign, IATO plans to conduct roadshows in different countries. “IATO has already organised roadshows in Australia, Singapore and Malaysia this month and we are soon going to conduct roadshows in UK and Ireland later this month. In April, roadshows would be organised by IATO in South Korea and Japan”, said Thakur.