SANGAM

NTY moves for international promotion

SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, AUG 29 -
The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has begun to promote Nepal Tourism Year 2011 aggressively in the international arena in the face of uncertainties in budget allocation and time constraints.

The NTB will be holding promos at the JATA World Travel Fair, Japan in September, in the US in October and in London and China in November.

“We will move to other destinations gradually,” said NTB chief executive officer Prachanda Man Shrestha.

The government has allocated Rs. 230 million to carry out promotional activities at both domestic and international levels. The NTB plans to spend Rs. 150 million on international promotion and Rs. 50 million in the domestic sector. The NTB’s publicity campaign, however, is running behind schedule.

“We cannot wait for the government budget,” said Yogendra Sakya, coordinator of the NTY 2011 implementation committee. He added that the private sector would “leave no stone unturned” to make the campaign a success.

The government had announced the NTY 2011 campaign on Oct. 25, 2008 in a bid to broaden the tourism base as a national priority and mainstream tourism into the national development process.

Apart from budget uncertainties, NTY 2011 has been bedevilled by issues like purchase of aircraft by Nepal Airlines Corporation, eroding competitiveness of travel packages, deteriorating garbage management and improvement of Tribhuvan International Airport.

The campaign had been announced as a public-private-partnership, however, the government’s interest and ownership is absent, said Shrestha. “We are requesting government line agencies and development partners to own NTY 2011 and bring out their programmes to support the campaign,” he added.

Bhola Bikram Thapa, member of the NTY 2011 implementation committee who is coordinating the aviation sector, said that there had been a slight improvement in services at TIA. However, the international airport needs to do more to provide full functional services, he added.