Ajay Prakash - President of TAFI will head Western India Tourism Organization (WITO) for the year.The body is an umbrella Organization representing the travel - tourism, hospitality and aviation sectors in India and addresses key issues concerning the hospitality and tourism trade. It plays a central role in promoting the development of sustainable tourism.

The apex organization consists of a Core group comprising Presidents/Chairman of the Hotel and Restaurant Association, Western India (HRAWI), Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), Maharashtra Tour Organisers’ Association (MTOA) and Western India Culinary Association (WICA). The membership strength they hold combined today is 5864, broken up as HRAWI 1243+TAFI 1400+TAAI 2462+ ADTOI 500+MTOA 104+ WICA 155.

It was decided that every President / Chairman of the Associations from the Core group, would be a member of WITO and the Chairperson of WITO will be chosen for a year, on rotation basis, starting with the president of HRAWI, Kamlesh Barot, as the initiator of WITO.

This year it is Ajay Prakash, President - TAFI who will be at the helm. In keeping with the vision and mission statements, TAFI (Ajay) earnestly hopes to facilitate the change in a holistic manner, to every facet of tourism from sightseeing to security to facilities. Every effort will be directed to transforming the tourist trend in Mumbai to increase the footfalls.

The body has lined up a host of activities to promote & safe guard Tourism in the region with the below menationed objectives:

> To bring alive Culture and Art by invoking the festive spirit, by tapping local talent, by giving a facelift to monuments, by training guides, by promoting awareness that WE ARE A MAJOR  TOURIST ATTRACTION.

> To have a year of festivals at exotic locales, like the Elephanta festival, the Banganga festival.

> To celebrate the soaring irrepressible spirit of Mumbai with the Kite Festival.

> To transform the approach from the airport with landscaped gardens.

> To make Mumbai more tourist friendly by creating a helpline for visitors, having more police personnel patrolling to provide security, constructing more public toilets.