Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI)  celebrated its 60th Diamond Jubilee Celebration in a grand way at  Hotel TAJ Land's End in Mumbai. 

The celebration was graced by Sri Subodh kant Sahay, Union Minister for Tourism, Mr Vipul Mitra, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Govt of Gujarat  and Mr Ashish Kumar Singh,  Secretary  to  Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Dr Burak Akcapar, Ambassador Turkish Embassy, Delhi,  Mr. Tomwit Jarnson, Consul General,  Royal Thai Consulate,  Mr Mustafa Ozdemir  Vice Consul from the Turkish Consulate office, Mumbai , : Mr. Kapesh  Jha ,  MD  Chhattisgarh   Tourism   Board,  Dr Mohan Yadav,  MD,  Madhya Pradesh  Tourism  Board,   Mr  Dilip  Shinde  Jt  MD  MTDC  and  Mr  Vidya  B  Kumar,  Exe  Director, Punjab  Heritage  & Tourism  Promotion  Board,  Dept of Tourism,  Govt of   Punjab along with all the past presidents of TAAI. 

The celebration was attended by more than 1800 delegates from all over the travel industry  making it a successful finale.  

Earlier in the day, ITTE  2011 - India Travel Trade Expo was inaugurated by Roma Singh, Regional Director,  India Tourism, Western Region,  Mumbai. Senior members from Airlines, Hotels , GDS companies, State and International  Tourism Boards, Cruise companies,  and the  travel fraternity attended the event in large numbers.  The event was attended by 3000 decision key makers of the travel and tourism industry and was a perfect platform for participants to showcase their destinations as it had more than 400 hosted buyers and sellers. 

The diamond Jubilee finale  concluded with The TAAI Travel Awards 2011 which was presented by Sri Subodh Kant Sahay, Union Minister for Tourism, Govt Of India.  New Awards categories were introduced to broaden the scope of the awards and felicitate the best in the industry.  Mr. M. Iqbal Mulla, presented the Presidential  Award to the Union Minister for his unstinted contribution and innovation  for the entire tourism industry.  The event was spectacular with music & entertainment and was praised by the entire travel fraternity.  

Mr. Iqbal Mulla, President of TAAI said, “It was possibly the best gathering of  the travel and tourism fraternity in the recent times. Besides, it was a successful networking event as members discussed various issues catering to the tourism industry.” 

The Award Winners as below: