| Vol:-14 |
| July 15, 2008 Year IV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tourism news From taan
NTB seeks parties' pledge on tourism
Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) Tuesday held a program to welcome all the political parties represented in the Constituent Assembly and sought a firm commitment from them to foster tourism. Addressing the program, tourism secretary Lila Mani Poudel said a cloud of doubt hung over the tourism industry amid lack of infrastructure, inaccurate publicity in the international markets and sudden and frequent strikes.
“But we are hopeful that these challenges will be sorted out with our collective and united efforts in the coming days,” he said.
NTB chief executive officer Prachanda Man Shrestha said that due to Nepal's geographical characteristics, tourism was not only a choice for economic development but a compulsion and necessity. “According to research findings of the World Tourism Council, tourism has created over 500,000 jobs in Nepal,” he said.
“We are realizing that aside from rising fuel prices and poor infrastructure, strikes and bandas are pushing tourism to the brink of uncertainty,” he added. “Now we need to ask ourselves if we can make a commitment to bring smiles to the faces of the Nepali people, create an enabling atmosphere for businessmen and build a new Nepal through advancement in tourism.”
NTB sales mission
The Himalayan Times July 13,2008
Call to appoint tourism attachés
NTB formally proposed the provision of tourism attaché through the Tourism and Civil Aviation Sub-Committee of the Revenue Recommendation Committee (RRC) constituted by the Ministry of Finance to recommend policies and programmes for the coming budget. The sub-committee has forwarded NTB’s proposal to RRC.
The sub-committee has recommended to appoint tourism attachés to Nepali en voys in the US, the UK, Germany, Japan and Australia.
These countries are the major tourist generating markets.
Elaborating on the provision, Nandini Lahe Thapa, NTB tourism marketing and promotion director said the attaché should know Nepal’s tourism products and services and be able to develop professional relations with local tour operators and media. “We have limited budget and can’t always travel abroad. We will give orientation to staff of our diplomatic missions and they can function as tourism attachés. We aren’t demanding that the government create new posts,” Thapa said adding that the attachés would represent NTB in their respective workstations and that they would be assigned with certain responsibilities.
“We are hopeful that our proposal will be incorporated in the coming budget. I think this will be a cost effective means of promoting tourism through economic diplomacy,” she said.
The private sector has long been demanding that the government activate its diplomatic missions for tourism promotion. NTB, together with the private sector, gave orientation to the latest batch of Nepali ambassadors before they headed for their respective embassies.
Hailing NTB’s proposal, Basant Raj Mishra, president of Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) said the provision of tourism attaché in Nepali diplomatic missions would be effective for tourism promotion. “We have long been demanding that the government activate our diplomatic missions abroad for tourism promotion. I am hopeful that the provision of tourism attaché will help the tourism industry,” he added. Mishra suggested that NTB thoroughly train the attachés and assign them their responsibilities.
“They should be informed about tourism products and services, know our strengths and weaknesses, and develop good liaison between tour operators and the mass media.
They should also act immediately if misleading information about Nepal is carried by the local media,” he said.
Changing skyline threatening Pokhara tourism
BY KULCHANDRA NEUPANE
Tourism entrepreneurs said they were worried about the future of billion of rupees of investment in the sector due to deteriorating condition of local heritages.
They said the huge amount of money injected into the sector has been put at risk because of road construction leading to Jomsom as an alternative to trekking, squeezing the area of the Fewa Lake and increasing construction works blocking the view of the Himalayas from Pokhara, are threatening the local tourism industry.
“Natural and tourist heritages are continuously being encroached and destroyed. We need to be serious about this increasing threat on tourism,” said Kali Bahadur Adhikari, former member of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), at a function organized to mark the 14th convention of the Regional Hotel Association, Pokhara, on Saturday.
“Pokhara is becoming a concrete city due to rapid construction works that have been blocking the view of Mount Machhapuchhre from Pokhara. Tourism in Pokhara will suffer a huge setback if we fail to stop such activities to preserve local heritages,” Adhikari added.
As per the existing regulations, buildings higher than two storeys are not allowed, to ensure a clear view of Mt Machhapuchhre from all sides of Pokhara. But the rampant violation of the code is also seen as an another challenge. Public platforms and ponds are being destructed in the course of road expansion and due to encroachment.
The Fewa Lake, a popular tourist hang out in Pokhara, is also under increasing threat as water hyacinth is invading a wider area of the lake which has been also facing mounting pollution in the recent years. Pokhara is located in the popular Annapurna trekking region. Tourism entrepreneurs are worried about the threat posed by road constructions along the trekking route. According NTB, 70 percent of the total 112,000 tourists visiting Pokhara in 2007, went trekking in this route.
“Billions of rupees have been invested here and all this is in serious threat. So measures to preserve, identify, develop and promote the natural heritages should be taken urgently,” Shrikant Sharma Khatiwada, a tourism expert, said. An estimated 29 billion rupees has been invested in Pokhara, the second largest tourist destination in Nepal.
Bachchuram Tiwari, president of Hotel Association of Nepal - Pokhara chapter, said a collective effort from all sectors is necessary for an economic revolution and for increasing employment by saving the huge investment from sinking.
President of HAN Prakash Shrestha also stressed on the need to peruse a policy of economic revolution to increase employment opportunities within the country.
The Kathmandu Post 13 July, 2008
BUDGET WATCH - Economic diplomacy required
Jyoti Adhikari, president, TAANWith the declaration of a Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, people’s expectations of the new government are very high. The new budget should truly reflect people’s need for change. Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) is hopeful that the government will incorporate its demands in the upcoming budget. Since tourism is the mainstay of the national economy, the government’s main focus should be on encouraging more international airlines to fly to Nepal.
It should immediately initiate measures to control mayhem and disorder in our only international airport. Realising adventure tourism as an important aspect of our tourism industry, the government should develop effective rescue mechanisms and allot separate adequate fund to carry out rescue operations.
This will help make our mountains and trekking areas safe. Since many years, we have been asking the government to give industry status to the tourism sector and provide due facilities. The government should allow duty-free import of vehicles for tourism industry. It should also allow unhindered movement of tourist vehicles throughout the country even during bandhs and strikes.
This will help portray Nepal as a tourist friendly nation in the international arena. At a time when the need for responsible tourism is being felt throughout the world, the government should come up with pro grammes to ensure safety and security of porters and trekking staffs.
Similarly, the government should give due emphasis to economic diplomacy to promote trade and tourism sector of the country. It should provide separate fund to our embassies and consulates for tourism promotion.
To materialize the concept of ‘Nepal for All Seasons’, the government should offer special incentives to visitors coming during the off-season.
Swiss company on Nepali tourism bandwagon
Kuoni’s move in joining the NATO shows growing interest of foreign tour operators in Nepal as the tourism industry begins to bounce back with a vengeance. Many foreign tour operators are eying the Nepali market and trying to enter in a big way.
“This is an overwhelmingly positive development for the tourism industry to see foreign tour operators jockeying for selling Nepali tourism products,” states a press release. In the past, a huge number of tour operators erased Nepal from the roster of destinations and stopped promoting it.
In the meantime, the NATO and Kuoni have agreed to hold frequent familiarisation trips of tour operators to Nepal. This would help shore up confidence of international tour operators and boost the Nepali tourism industry.
Kuoni arranges and operates services throughout Europe, North America, India, eastern and southern Africa and China for and on behalf of some of the most esteemed tour operators and travel companies. It manages 1,45,000 travellers to the Indian sub-continent annually.
In addition, three more Nepali tour operators have received NATO membership: Vista Travels and Tours, a leading Spanish tourists handling company, Peace International Tours & Travels, a leading Italian tourists handling company and Fewa Tours & Travels.
The Himalayan Times
Visitors Arrival in June 2008 (by air only)
The arrival figures released by Immigration Office, TIA shows that visitor arrivals to Nepal increased by 6 % with total 177163 visitors till June 2008. However, the arrival figure in June has been decreased by 7% to 21900. In the European market, Netherlands and Denmark recorded a strong increase by 20% and 35 % respectively.
Among the major tourist generating markets UK and France registered a growth of 2% and 8% whereas USA and Spain had a negative growth of 7% each and Germany 31%. Indian market recorded a negative growth of 8%, nevertheless this market alone contributed 52 % in the total arrivals for this month. Overall, the Asian market registered a commendable upsurge in arrivals with a notable rise of 64% from Bangladesh, 73 % from Pakistan, 46% from Sri Lanka and 42 % from Singapore
NTB
NAC vanishing into the blue
Inaugurating the celebration, chief secretary Bhoj Raj Ghimire said the airline lay on its deathbed. “A new dose of life has to be injected into it if it is to survive,” he said.
The troubled corporation is operating one single aircraft on international routes as its management could not get its other plane maintained on time while it “scouted for commission”.
The craft has been stuck in Brunei for the last 11 months as its return to Kathmandu kept getting postponed.
“In the history of NAC, I have never seen such frequent cancellations of international flights like during this year,” Shishir Sharma, a NAC captain, said.
The corporation is fast losing out on bookings to other airlines. Average occupancy during the past month was around 50 percent, said a NAC official.
In the mid-1990s, NAC owned four Boeings and 12 other aircraft including Twin Otters and Avros that were used on domestic flights. The fleet has been slashed to one operational Boeing and two to three Twin Otters.
Speaking at the celebration, NAC managing director K B Limbu said there was enough market and manpower, but it was unable to provide service because of lack
of aircraft. We are working on rearranging our routes on the basis of profitability, he added.
He said the airline carried 105,091 passengers in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.
Flight suspension to hit tourism
Yeti Airlines, Nepal's leading domestic carrier and Air Arabia, the first and the largest LCC in the Middle East and North Africa, had entered into a joint venture (JV) to start a new budget airline, under the brand name flyyeti.com.
The suspension of flyyeti.com's flights from July 16 is a unilateral decision of Air Arabia team of management of the JV airline, due to high aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price.
"Nepal has possibly highest ATF price in the world.
The JV airline pays $1.5 per litre of ATF in Nepal whereas on all routes that it operates the price is somewhere around $0.90," according to Ang Tshiring Sherpa, chairman, Yeti Airlines International Pvt Ltd.
"We pay about 67 per cent more for ATF in Nepal than elsewhere. With the rising price, operating flights was becoming economically challenging. The 10 per cent lease tax levied by the government on all leased air crafts is an additionally large burden to bear," the press note stated.
Though, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) had a good profit margin in sales of the aviation fuel, it increased the price of ATF. Immediately, Airline operators have asked the government to roll back the decision of hiking ATF prices.
Airlines Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) has also strongly condemned NOC's move to hike ATF prices. However, NOC didnot roll back the price.
It had hiked the ATF prices by Rs 10 per litre or 12.5 per cent for domestic use and $230 per 1000 litre or 21 per cent for interna tional operations.
Yeti Airlines International Pvt Ltd, under the brand name flyyeti.com had commenced its international flight from Kathmandu on January 22.
Nepali aviation laws are inflexible and should be modified to become more industry friendly, say the entrepreneurs. "If the government wants to see local airlines to grow in the international service, it should encourage them through flexible rules and tax exemptions."
Nepal had the all time record tourist arrivals last year and there are 19 foreign airlines operating air services to/from Nepal.
The temporary suspension of flyyeti.com's flights might hit the tourism sector. The suspension of flyyeti.com, a Low Cost Carrier (LCC), will hit the tourism industry that has just started picking up, say a tourism entrepre- neurs. Yeti Airlines, Nepal's lead- ing domestic carrier and Air Arabia, the first and the largest LCC in the Middle East and North Africa, had entered into a joint venture (JV) to start a new budget airline, under the brand name flyyeti.com. The suspension of fly- yeti.com's flights from July 16 is a unilateral decision of Air Arabia team of man- agement of the JV airline, due to high aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price. "Nepal has possibly high- est ATF price in the world. The JV airline pays $1.5 per litre of ATF in Nepal whereas on all routes that it operates the price is some- where around $0.90," ac- cording to Ang Tshiring Sherpa, chairman, Yeti Air- lines International Pvt Ltd. "We pay about 67 per cent more for ATF in Nepal than elsewhere. With the rising price, operating flights was becoming economically challenging. The 10 per cent lease tax levied by the gov- ernment on all leased air- crafts is an additionally large burden to bear," the press note stated. Though, Nepal Oil Corpo- ration (NOC) had a good profit margin in sales of the aviation fuel, it increased the price of ATF. Immediate- ly, Airline operators have asked the government to roll back the decision of hik- ing ATF prices. Airlines Operators Associ- ation of Nepal (AOAN) has also strongly condemned NOC's move to hike ATF prices. However, NOC did- not roll back the price. It had hiked the ATF prices by Rs 10 per litre or 12.5 per cent for domestic use and $230 per 1000 litre or 21 per cent for interna- tional operations. Yeti Airlines International Pvt Ltd, under the brand name flyyeti.com had com- menced its international flight from Kathmandu on January 22. Nepali aviation laws are inflexible and should be modified to become more industry friendly, say the entrepreneurs. "If the gov- ernment wants to see local airlines to grow in the inter- national service, it should encourage them through flexible rules and tax ex- emptions." Nepal had the all time record tourist arrivals last year and there are 19 foreign airlines operating air ser- vices to/from Nepal.
Nepal's Sales Mission to the US completed successfully
After the successful completion of the Constitutional Assembly elections and declaration of Nepal as a Republic, the Nepalese delegation met and interacted with the US media, travel agencies and tour operators in the key outbound cities of Los Angeles (June 20), San Francisco (June 23), Denver (June 24), Washington DC (June 26) and New York city (June 27) during the Sales Mission programs.
The Nepalese delegation comprising of five private sector tourism companies was led by the Chief Executive Officer of NTB Mr. Prachanda Man Shrestha and supported by the Nepal Embassy in Washington DC and the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations in New York.
CEO of NTB Mr. Prachanda Man Shrestha informed the US media and trade that with Nepal being declared the youngest republic, the Nepalese travel trade industry was ready to take up the challenge to institutionalize the new system. Saying that tourism in Nepal was not a choice but a compulsion, Mr. Shrestha explained the vital role that the tourism industry played in the socio-economic sector of the country.
Explaining the segmentation of the "Naturally Nepal – Once is not Enough" brand under Weekend Breaks, Experience of a Lifetime and Amazing Adventures, Mr. Shrestha elaborated the unmatchable tourism products, attractions and the services that Nepal has to offer to the visitors from the US. As arrivals from the US had already shown upward trend, he was confident that the Sales Mission would help in disseminating the positive information on Nepal and further boosting tourist arrivals in the days ahead.
Speaking at the programs in Washington DC and New York respectively, Excellencies Dr. Suresh Raj Chalise, Ambassador of Nepal to US and Mr. Madhu Raman Acharya Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations stressed that since safely and security were no longer any issues, the Nepali tourism industry was all geared up to welcome the visitors from the US. They emphasized on the key role of tourism in the new Republic and the importance that the Government had given to the tourism industry. They assured all present that the Embassy and the Permanent Mission would extend all possible cooperation to the outbound operators and media in the US as well as cooperate fully with NTB in destination promotion.
NTB under its brand "Naturally Nepal – Once is not Enough" has been focusing in the US market with various once in a life time adventure packages. The drive of the new tourism brand is reinventing Nepal's natural and cultural diversity while stressing on sustainability and environmental tourism efforts. The Nepal brand focuses on sharing the warm Nepalese hospitality, friendly culture and rich history.
This year till May 2008, the total tourist arrival has shown an increase of 8% as compared to the same period in 2007. The increase in the US arrival is a robust 25% compared to the same period in 2007.
The five private sector companies taking part in the Sales Mission were: Cho-Oyu Trekking, Royal Mt. Trekking, Shangrila Tours, Sherpa Brother Treks & Expeditions and Yeti Travels.
male rhino
OUTRAGE: A male rhino with its horn hacked off found in Bardiya National Park in April PHOTO: RAMESWOR BOHARA