NTB marks 24th anniversary

Kathmandu / Jan.1: Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a national tourism organisation established in 1998 in public-private-partnership model to develop and market Nepal as an attractive tourist destination, has completed 24 years in operation.

It organised a programme at its secretariat in Kathmandu to mark the 24th anniversary on Saturday. Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Chairman of the NTB, Suresh Adhikari, said that a new strategy is needed for tourism promotion in the changing global environment.

He said that it is a good sign that the tourism industry, which has been affected by COVID-19 pandemic, is gradually returning to normalcy and that the government should implement new tourism promotion programmes in coordination and cooperation with the private sector and the board.

“Nepal has high tourism potential, but we have not been able to exploit it. So we need to devise new strategy to benefit from that potential. Global trends in tourism have changed recently, it is necessary to make a corresponding strategy,” said Adhikari.

Similarly, Vice-Chairman of the board, Chandra Prasad Rijal, said that it is the need of the day to improve the shortcomings of the past and move forward. He also pointed out the need for policy reforms for the overall development of the tourism sector.

Chief Executive Officer of the NTB, Dr. Dhananjaya Regmi, mentioned that tourism has a great contribution in the economic development of Nepal and said that the state should give more priority to the tourism industry for earning foreign exchange and creating jobs.

He emphasised that the cooperation between the government, the board and the private sector should be made more effective in the search and expansion of new destinations. Shreejana Rana, President of Hotel Association Nepal, mentioned that tourism is the sector most affected by COVID-19, and there is a need to do a lot of work for its revival. According to her, tourism should be developed and promoted according to the regional structure. On the occasion, Adhikari released InFocus 2022 published by the NTB.