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SKÅL-India to join SKÅL Asia Area Committee

The association is also attempting to get its eight clubs together

Chetan Kapoor - Mumbai

Arun Raghavan Hon. Treasurer, SKÅL International Bombay (144)

After mulling over the decision as to whether to join the SKÅL Asia Area body or not, SKÅL-India has finally decided to join hands with the Asia Area body. Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Arun Raghavan, hon treasurer, SKÅL International Bombay (144) informed, "During the mid-term meeting of Asia Area held in January, the National Executive Committee members were of the belief that if India joins the Asia Area it would be highly beneficial for the members to network with other SKÅL leagues from the region, following the fact that they do a lot of business across the Asian continent. Finally during the managing committee meeting held in March, it was decided that all the clubs of India would join the Asia Area Committee."

To further strengthen the networking opportunities to be derived from the conference, Praveen Chugh, its president, has declared that maximum members must attempt to attend the Congress. At the India level, the association is also attempting to get its eight clubs, namely, Mumbai, Pune, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore together. Raghavan mentioned, "While this would be the long-term agenda, we are trying to get the Mumbai and Pune clubs together first on account of their proximity. Networking is important in this business and we want our members to make full use of the different products and knowledge that other members have to offer instead of dealing with unknown people."

SKÅL International established in 1934, is an association of 25,000 travel and tourism professionals across 500 clubs in 80 countries. The SKÅL International World Congress 2008 is slated to be held at Taipei from October 12-17, 2008.