A meeting of the Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) held in Kathmandu Tuesday under the chairmanship of acting president of NATO Mr. J.L. Khanna discussed the present crisis situation faced by Nepalese tourism industry, a press release stated.

Addressing the gathering Mr. Khanna said that at this period of crisis, the international wholesaler tour operators are not willing to market Nepal due to lack of safety and security which has further been aggravated by the negative travel advisories of different tourist generating countries. He further said that it’s time that all tourism entrepreneurs work together to stay afloat at this juncture of the crisis.

Senior tourism entrepreneur and executive member of NATO Mr. Tek Chandra Pokharel said that it is the litmus test for tourism industry and all have to sit together to solve it. “All associations related to tourism industry have to make damage assessment to find out the real loss incurred by tourism industry in these three years.”

“We must find out how tourism downturn has impacted the lives of people who depend on tourism industry as well as to the overall economy of the country and should provide possible solutions as to how quickly and efficiently the tourism industry can recover from this crisis,” Pokharel further added.

Mr. Basant Raj Mishra, Hon. Secretary of NATO elaborating on managing the crisis said that since Nepal is being portrayed negatively in the international media, it’s important to build consumer confidence in Nepal’s products. It is very pertinent to manage and manipulate media to reposition Nepal’s image as a safest destination.

He also said that tourism industry has to conduct Public Relations (PR) exercise aggressively to promote the image of Nepal by hiring an expert from aboard to deal with it. He pointed out that the diplomatic missions based in Nepal should be asked to disseminate only the required information through travel advisories based on facts. He further said that government has to provide some incentive to retain international airlines that are operating in Nepal.

Mr. Navneet Nagpal and Mr. Ravi Chandra Hamal, both members of NATO said that at the onset of the Golden Jubilee anniversary of ascending Mt. Everest, a special kind of programme should be organized to attract international tourists in Nepal providing special incentive packages.

Mr. Kaldhen Sherpa, vice President of NATO, Ambica Shrestha, executive member of NATO and members of NATO Mr. Krishna Sahi, Bikram Pandey, Robin Marston, Kosh Thapa, Mohan Rana stressed that safety and security is very important to bring tourists in Nepal, but unity among tourism entrepreneurs is equally essential to achieve desired goal in the tourism industry. (press release)