Kathmandu, Dec. 31
Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a national
tourism organisation established in 1998 in public-private-partnership model to
develop and market Nepal as an attractive tourist destination, has completed 24
years in operation.
It organised a programme at its
secretariat in Kathmandu to mark the 24th anniversary on Saturday. Secretary
of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Chairman of the NTB,
Suresh Adhikari, said that a new strategy is needed for tourism promotion in
the changing global environment.
He said that it is a good sign that the
tourism industry, which has been affected by COVID-19 pandemic, is gradually
returning to normalcy and that the government should implement new tourism
promotion programmes in coordination and cooperation with the private sector
and the board.
"Nepal has high tourism potential, but
we have not been able to exploit it. So we need to devise new strategy to benefit
from that potential. Global trends in tourism have changed recently, it is
necessary to make a corresponding strategy,'' said Adhikari.
Similarly, Vice-Chairman of the board,
Chandra Prasad Rijal, said that it is the need of the day to improve the shortcomings
of the past and move forward. He also pointed out the need for policy reforms
for the overall development of the tourism sector.
Chief Executive Officer of the NTB, Dr.
Dhananjaya Regmi, mentioned that tourism has a great contribution in the economic
development of Nepal and said that the state should give more priority to the
tourism industry for earning foreign exchange and creating jobs.
He emphasised that the cooperation
between the government, the board and the private sector should be made more
effective in the search and expansion of new destinations.
Shreejana Rana, President of Hotel
Association Nepal, mentioned that tourism is the sector most affected by
COVID-19, and there is a need to do a lot of work for its revival.
According to her, tourism should be
developed and promoted according to the regional structure.
On the occasion, Adhikari released
InFocus 2022 published by the NTB.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 1 January 2023.
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