Minister Acharya admonishes tourism entrepreneurs

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Bhim Acharya today came down heavily on the private sector, accusing the latter for its immature behaviour, which, he said, was ‘tarnishing the image of the country’s tourism industry’.

Addressing a programme organised by Nepal Mountaineering Association here, Minister Acharya labelled the recent agitation in the name of the Joint Tourism Coordination Committee (JTCC) against Nepal Tourism Board as ‘childish’.

“Don’t play any immature games to tarnish the industry’s image,” Acharya told entrepreneurs claiming that the agitation was ill-planned and meaningless. “Agitations staged by our students’ wings in schools and colleges used to be better than yours,” he said during the event, which was attended by most senior JTCC representatives.

Minister Acharya also criticised a section of mountaineering stakeholders for negative publicity of the April 18 avalanche on Mt Everest. “No one will benefit by circulating negative messages about the April incident,” he said, adding, the ministry condemns politicisation of the incident.

He also defended the ministry’s move to recognise helicopter-assisted Mt Everest ascent by Chinese climber Wang Jing.

source: the himalayan times,25 july 2014