The Institute is established as an autonomous body under Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. The Secretary (Tourism), Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India is the Chairperson of the Board of Governors (BoG). The BoG is constituted with the senior government functionaries, eminent academics and industry and watersports specialists as its members. In 2004, the institute has been designated as "A Center under Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM)" by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India and Prof Sitikantha Mishra is the Director (www.iittm.org).

In February 2007, Dr Sutheeshna Babu. S, MPhil, PhD (JNU) has taken charge of the Institute as Nodal Officer.

Mr Sanjay T Gawas joined in October 2007 as Instructor and is in-charge of conducting Institute's training programmes. Most training activities of the Institute are conducted through visiting faculty, drawn from a panel consisting of local and outstation experts.