Panel to study quake's impact on tourism

In a bid to study the impact of the April 25 Great Earthquake on the country’s tourism, the Tourism Recovery Committee (TRC) has been formed under the chairmanship of Tulsi Prasad Gautam, director general at the Department of Tourism (DoT).

The committee will identify short- and long-term work needed to be done, formulate necessary programmes and make necessary suggestions to government agencies concerned for the speedy recovery of the tourism industry. A meeting of the TRC discussed and initiated a number of measures to revive the tourism sector after the earthquakes of 25th April and 12th May 2015.

The Rapid Assessment Committee formed under the initiation of the DoT in coordination with the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) will inspect hotels with regards to the strength of their property and their capability to accommodate guests in the context of the recent earthquakes.

The Nepal Association of Tour Operators will be responsible for surveying heritage sites within Kathmandu valley. TRC is working closely with the Department of Archaeology in this regards.

HAN and Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents are coordinating with the private sector to work on offering incentive packages to tourism businesses to enable them to revive and recover damages, and on marketing schemes, discounted packages, and others that will help boost the tourism recovery process.

The Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal has taken the responsibility of assessing damaged trekking routes of in areas like Langtang and Manaslu, and providing a detailed report with recommendations.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter will coordinate with International agencies like PATA International and will invite Andrew Jones from the PATA headquarters to Nepal in the coming week for a preliminary discussion on tourism recovery strategies.

PATA Nepal Chapter will coordinate with Global Risk Miyamoto, a global earthquake and structural engineering firm, which has technical knowledge, planning skills, and experience to assist corporate management in establishing, prioritising, and implementing a realistic natural hazard risk control programme to assess trekking routes in the Everest and Annapurna regions and make them hazard-free for the coming autumn season.

The TRC will also request the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal to invite an international organisation to inspect airports.

source: the kathmandu post,18 may 2015