Tourism and aviation conclave held

Hotel de l´ Annapurna Kathmandu, in association with New Business Age, held a seminar on Thursday on tourism and aviation industry in Nepal.

The aim of the seminar was to explore prospects of premium tourism models and stronger aviation services in Nepal through deliberations and interaction of all major stakeholders of the industry.

Inaugurating the half-day conference, Sushil Ghimire, the secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil aviation, said such conferences and panel discussions would help develop a roadmap on how the industry has to move ahead towards prosperity. Saying that tourism is the highest revenue generating sector in Nepal, Ghimire said, “Such seminars will bring together all the stakeholders, under a common roof where problems can be discussed and solutions can be generated.”

Focusing on the need of quality tourism in Nepal, Ghimire said that the urgent need in aviation industry was the upgrading of airports and bringing plane fares down to ‘reasonable rates’. “The time has come that all of us join hand and march ahead,” Ghimire added.

Speaking at event, Madan Lamsal, the Chief Executive Officer of New Business Age, said such the event aimed at broadening the understanding of premium tourism in Nepal and would enhance the growth of industry. Further, Lamsal said premium tourism in the country would be possible only when the aviation sector developed.

Similarly, Shreejana Rana, the director of CSR-Research and Development, said the tourism industry in Nepal had taken some hard knocks in the last decades. She said tourism entrepreneurs needed a safe and conductive environment to invest further to enhance products and services.

Meanwhile, a case study on Malaysian and Indian tourism were also presented at the event by representatives from the two countries.

source: republica,19 Sept 2013