Tourism always thrives in peace and tranquility’

Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Tourism Board, Tek Bahadur Dangi, spoke to Nepalnews on challenges facing the tourism sector of the country. A former official with the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Dangi, 46, had joined the NTB in 1999 as Director of Marketing. Excerpts of the interview:

How is the tourism scenario over the last three months since the imposition of the state of emergency (on Feb. 1)?

The state of emergency has been misinterpreted in the potential tourism markets of Nepal. They have perceived it differently. Many journalists and tourists who visited in March and April this year told us that they didn't find the trace of emergency in Nepal because there is no restriction in the movement of people for any sort of tourism activities. Their presence has reinforced the sense of security and the personal sentiment of all the travelers. Though it might look awkward at the first stance, but once they visit all the desired places, then they would come to acknowledge the relevance of their presence.

Last year, Nepal witnessed 13 percent increase in the tourist arrival despite frequent bandhs and blockades. However, situation has changed this year. For the last two months, tourist arrivals have declined. We cannot single out one reason for the decline. Stringent travel advisories and portrayal of Nepal's negative image in some of the international media are some of the reasons for the decline in tourist arrivals. We still do have the problem of air-seat in many potential sectors, which has hindered the tourist arrivals in the country. The Nepalese tourism industry is fighting back the adversity with the help of media, tour operators and friends of Nepal living abroad. Dozens of familiarization trips including media and tour operators from major tourism generating countries have been materialized and such efforts will continue in the future.

You blamed `negative coverage’ in international media for the drop in tourists visiting Nepal. So, what are you doing to address it?
British journalists, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and Hotel Association of Nepal...

This is the age of sensation. And, media is becoming the catalyst of creating sensations. All these sensations are far above the ground reality more than the existing tourist friendly actual situations. More than focusing on other regular promotion programs, NTB is accelerating the number of journalists’ and major tour operators Familiarization (Fam) Tours from international market to change the perception of visitors based on ground reality. Fam trips are also proving to be cost effective way of destination promotion. Till date, NTB has already hosted Fam tours to more than 300 international journalists of highest repute. In April alone, we have organised FAM trips for 35 journalists from India, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and United Kingdom. Recently, we also held press conferences in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Bangladesh and Germany. Likewise, we are also working with various tourism and other associations (HAN, NATTA, PATA, NATO etc) and airlines to launch lucrative packages to bring in more tourists into the country. We are also planning country-specific promotion programmes through Royal Nepalese embassies abroad.

But critics say NTB lacks country-specific promotional strategy to promote Nepal as a preferred 'tourist destination.'

So far NTB has left no stone unturned to promote Nepal, following the international manuals and guidelines as practiced by successful countries like Singapore and Thailand, among others. We have identified primary, secondary and potential markets for promotion and marketing of Nepalese tourism with special focus on regional tourism with the help of private sector. There is a sub-committee comprising all the major players of the industry for every country focused by NTB. It is the sub-committee, which selects the country for promotion and consequently decides about marketing strategy. NTB has been actively involved, mainly after consulting all the private industry players of the local market, in promoting Nepalese tourism in overseas markets. The fact is that NTB cannot make its presence everywhere with its limited resources. Despite our efforts carried on with limited resources, Nepal has been voted as preferred destination by many online surveys and magazines. But we still need to do hard marketing to bring in more tourists in Nepal.

How would you justify latest taxes imposed on diplomats during their travel outside the country?

First of all, the aforesaid Fee is not a new provision but the replacement of earlier one which has come into existence revoking previous system of collecting 2% Tourism Service Fee from tourists/foreign nationals in different services which included hotel, restaurant, rafting, trekking, tour, cable car etc. On January 14, 2005, His Majesty's Government issued the Financial Ordinance 2061/62 B. S. making a new provision for Nepal Tourism Board to collect Tourism Service Fee of NRs. 565 (including VAT) from Tribhuvan International Airport from foreign nationals/ tourists traveling by air only at the time of their departure. This new provision has simplified the collection of Tourism Service Fee because the earlier provision had made foreign nationals pay TSF in all tourism related services mentioned above which perplexed them a lot at the time of paying bills. Like the new one, it was also mandatory in the past for all foreigners including diplomats and foreign residents to pay 2% TSF at hotels, restaurants, tours etc, and there was no provision of exemption in the TSF earlier too.

What should be done to bring in say 500,000 tourists per year to Nepal? How do you see NTB's role in it?

The most important thing is peace. Tourism always thrives in peace and tranquility. If there is peace, the target set by you is obviously not a distant dream. We have infrastructure and carrying capacity to cater over one million tourists a year. Since we had brought in nearly 500,000 tourists in 1999, I don't see any problem to meet this target if peace prevails in the country. Moreover, we have all our marketing planning, tools and armament set to achieve this target. As a nodal agency for promoting Nepal's tourism, NTB has ambitious plans to cross the figure set by you and we are determined to prove that with NTB's existing expertise, provided peace is restored in the country. Since development of tourism partly depends on national carrier, a strong national carrier is also needed to boost the image of Nepalese tourism industry. nepalnews.com pd/dr Apr 26 05

UK Journos in Nepal think Nepal is safe

This article is taken from the Kathmandu Post dated Tuesday 26 April 2005....since I could not get it on the net (strange as I thought it would be more important that the outside world hears of this) I have to type it in (as is)

Kathmandu, April 25 (PR)
Visiting British journalists said that despite the internal problems, Nepal is a safe place to visit and that the conflict does not pose any threat to the tourists. "Tourists do not need to be wary of to come to Nepal. It is really a perfect destination that offers a wide range of attractions," said Elizabeth Davies, a journalist with the Independent newspaper, UK. Speaking at a press conference held on Sunday, she said that though the country is mired in conflict, no single tourist has been so far harmed and that tourists are completely safe in Nepal. Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and Hotel Association of Nepal organized the program. A total of five journalists from the UK were in Nepal for 10-day tour under the familiarization trips organized by NTB.

end of article..

Travel Advisory (Update)

So where are we now? Is travel to Nepal safe? Where can you travel when in Nepal with relative ease....

This by far is the most pertinent point.....relative ease...since safety is not of concern at the moment. It never has....we have had very few traveller casualties due to the conflict.

Having said that...we did have an incident the other day when a Russian mountaineer missed the tourist bus as he overslept and was chasing the bus with a taxi when his taxi hit a landmine intended for the army convoy following the tourist bus....His leg is damaged...

The other day, someone discovered a small bomb at a money exchange in Thamel and it was detonated by the bomb squad.

Think of it, we are in a country in conflict and things like this will happen....regardless, I have had travellers coming and going...all of them have a similar pattern. They all express their concerns before coming in and as they come in....by the time their holiday is complete, all their apprehensions and fears would have dissolved....as there is nothing that hampers their trip at all...

So, is it safe? Yes it is safe....

Yet I would say correspond to people in Nepal to find out the situation on a day by day basis...the situation is still fliud so caution is the key

"Nepal: Where all dreams come true", say Indian journalists

In an effort to provide accurate information based on ground realities, Nepal Tourism Board organised a FAM tour of five Indian journalists from Bangalore from March 31 to April 6, 2005. After returning from Pokhara visiting Jomsom and Marpha, they interacted with the officials of Nepal Tourism Board, Royal Nepal Airlines, Cosmic Air and Pashupathi Area Development Trust on April 6, 2005 sharing their experience.

Responding the queries made by NTB Officials, P.S. Phadnis, Chief of Bureau, Deccan Herald said that Nepal is a perfect destination of South Indian tourists as the people of Bangalore are getting affluent day by day, have more access to money than people of other cities of India and software engineers of Bangalore always look for new places to visit. He further said that 'Bandh' and strike happens everyday in India, and it doesn't bother Indian tourists much. "No major newspaper reports anything bad about Nepal purportedly but it sometimes happens due to some ideological and political difference," he said.

Sharing his experience, R. Chandrakanth, Special Correspondent of The Hindu said that he found Nepal totally different from what he perceived before coming here. "Places are simply too good to describe in the words especially Jomsom and Marpha. People are humble and docile, and this is the plus point that attracts people to Nepal from all over the world. I have already decided to bring my family in this October for some adventure sports," he said.

Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Tourism Board Mr. Tek Bahadur Dangi requested them to report the fact that they have seen during their stay in Nepal and asked them help NTB to disseminate the message that Nepal is a safe destination for tourists. Mr. Basant Chaudhary Member Secretary, Pashupathi Area Development Trust, Mr. Deepak Manadhar, Deputy Director of Royal Nepal Airlines and Mr. Lawrance Lew, General Manager, Cosmic Air also requested them to write what they had seen in Nepal without exaggerating the situation.

Other journalists who came to Nepal for FAM tour are Vasanth Nadiger, News Editor, Vijayanand, Mr. Kiran Prakash M.S., Chief Sub-editor, the New Indian Express and Ms. Divyalakshmi Nambiar, Sub-Editor, Yoyagers World. They also visited Bhaktapur and Nagarkot.

The FAM tour was supported by Royal Nepal Airlines, Jomsom Mountain Resort, Hyatt Regency, Country Villa, Fishtail Lodge, Soaltee Crowne Plaza, Nepal Recreation Centre and Bhojan Griha.

Shangri-La bags Nepal's leading hotel award
Hotel Shangri-La has been declared as the 'Winner of the Nepal's Leading Hotel' in the 11th World Travel Awards. The gala awards ceremony was held in Barbados. The hotel was announced winner of the Nepal's leading hotel on the basis of votes cast by travel agents worldwide. World Travel Awards is considered the most comprehensive, the biggest and the most prestigious award program in the travel industry worldwide.

Nepal Tourism Board - Press Release

Visitors Arrival in March 2005 (by air only)

A total of 20,137 visitors arrived to Nepal by air in March 2005. Compared to the visitors' number of previous month, it was a net addition of 6,136 visitors. In comparison with previous year March however, the decrease is by 35%. The figures in March shows a softening in decline in both the segments where third country arrival is down by 31% and Indian arrival is down by 49% compared to the same period last year. This was stated in the provisional figures provided today by Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, quoting Immigration Office, TIA.

March's softening in decline trend speaks of the gradual increase in traveler's confidence towards Nepal. Moreover, some of Nepal's major traffic generating markets have shown positive results or remained quite unaffected for the month. The growth in British visitors' arrival by 13% indicated the returning confidence of the market towards Nepal. The Austrian (2%) and the Chinese (1%) were the next two positive performers of the month. The German (-6%), Dutch (-2%) and Spain (-5%) remained to be the least affected markets. However, the US (-39%), Japan (-50%), France (-49%), Australia (-56%) and ROC (-72%) became sharply affected during the month.

Nepal's promotion in Bangladesh during the Dhaka Travel Mart last month is also attracting more and more Bangladeshi travelers to Nepal. The "Buy One, Get One Free" ticket with free casino coupons is also getting popular day by day.

Given the gradual increase and continuation in traveler's confidence towards Nepal, the tourism industry in Nepal shall again cater to an increasing visitor's number, in the coming days.