Tourism industry to be provided with special facilities

The High Level Committee formed to study recognition to be given to tourism industry as national priority industry has recommended to the government to provide special facilities to the tourism industry.

The Committee coordinated by Lilamani Paudel, the Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister, has recommended exempting the income tax and providing facility of lands in lease as given to forest resources industries.

Similarly, the committee stressed on creating environment for smooth operation and providing soft loans for running hotels and resorts in the 22 districts that were declared by Industry Act-2049 BS as underdeveloped ones.

The committee has suggested to take effective move by the Ministry of Agriculture Development to increase agricultural productions in the local level and urged the hotels and restaurants established in the tourism spots to encourage domestic productions. It has stressed on linking the Youth Self-employment programme with the tourism industry to return the youths working in various foreign countries to their villages.

The team has recommended simplifying the registration process for the Home Stay concept and providing services and facilities considering them as the micro industries.

The committee also stressed that the government should provide special facilities to the bodies that encourage the participation of more than 20 dalits, disabled and conflict-affected people if entrepreneurs could submit such proof.

The government should bring clear policy for the development of tourism and recommended providing the 30 per cent of the royalty taken from the tourists under various topics and invest for the local tourism development.

In case of the mountains that are visited by fewer tourists including the Mt. Choyu, the government should give total exemption of the royalty. It also suggested forming a joint mechanism of Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal Tourism Board, and representatives of the Mountaineering Association to monitor the tourism activities in the country.

The government should recognise and provide special honors and cash awards to the travel and trekking entrepreneurs that bring more than 500 foreign tourists, the report recommends.

Similarly, the report also stresses on allowing helicopters to make flights without any obstruction on rescue of injured and ill tourists, creating environment for smooth import of aircrafts, increasing participation of private sector on construction and management of the airports on development and expansion of physical infrastructure and attracting participation of private sector by providing different facilities and subsidies as per the provision of air services policies.

Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Dr. Ganesh Raj Joshi informed that the Ministry has started initiative from its side to put the report presented by high-level committee into practice.

Joshi added that the Ministry requested the National Planning Commission (NPC) to make policy arrangements and to bring new programmes on the basis of the report.

source: The Himalayan Times,19 June 2012