WORK TO MAKE TOURISM YEAR 2011 A SUCCESS
Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation Sarat Singh Bnahdari friday stressed the need to develop and promote the tourism sector of Nepal as an industry considering its immense prospects.
Shedding light on the importance of conserving the naural endowments and cultural heritage as major tourism products, Ministry Bhandari said that tourism industry should be diversified for the benefit for all the people living in the rural areas of Nepal.
"We have to come up with innovative ideas to promote both international and domestic tourism in the country," he said.
Stating that hospitality was an inherent quality of Nepali people, he said that the government and the private sector should work hard to make the Nepal Tourism Year 2011 a success.
"Since we are not in favourable situation, we have to make extra efforts to meet the target of the event," he said.
He made the remark while launching a souvenir entitle ' Village Tourism for Pervty Alleviation' published by the Village Tourism Pmorotion Forum-Nepal ( VITOF-Nepal).
He emphasized that Nepal syould tap the growing tourism markets of two neighbouring countries-India and China. He said that the government has laid its focus on promoting various historic places of the Terai region such as Biratnagar, Siraha, Janakpur,Simraugadh, Lumbini and Chisapani.
"As we are talking aout federalism, cultural and religious aspects could be bases for it," he said.
He also suggested that the Nepal Tourism Board(NTB) should change its roles and take up additional responsibilities for the development of the tourism industry.
"Apart from tourism promotion, NTB should now carrry out researches, contribute in building tourism infrastructure and facilitate the rural people of tourism development," he said.
He said that the government was also thinking of bringing about structural changes in the NTB.
Dwelling on the closure of the seven concessionaires inside the Chitwan National Park(CNP), he said that the resorts had vitally contributed in establishing and promoting the country's brand as a premier wildlife tourism destination.
"For the last 42 years, Tiger Tops has highlighted Nepal as a prime wildlife tourism destination. We must resume operations of the resorts," he said.
Prof. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Khadka, Head of the Central Department of Rural development said that concrete efforts were needed for the development of village tourism.
Talking about the adverse impact of global warming on the ecology of the Himalayan region, Dr. Khadka said that massive awareness campaigns were required to educate stakeholders about it.
Prof. Rupert A Huber, as Austrian village tourism expert, stressed the need for utilizing the available natural and cultural resources in an efficient manner to improve the economic condition of the rural people.
"Despite abundant resources, Nepal is still one of the poorest countries in the world," he said.
Dr. Prem Sharma, advisor to VITOF-Nepal and editor of the souvenir, highlighted the vast potential of villge tourism development in Nepal.
Speaking about the souvenir, he said that village tourism could help in alleviating poverty in the rural areas.
Prachand Man Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of NTB, said that the people living in villages would be motivated to preserve tourism resources only when they got benefits from tourism.
President of VITOF-Nepal Surya Prakash Shrestha said that promotion of village tourism would help in making the Nepal Torism Year 2011 a success.
Shrestha asked the government to introduce special policies and programmes for diversifying tourism to villages. Nani Kaji Thapa, secretary general of the organization, also spoke about the importance of village tourism.
Source www.egorkhapatra.com 01 Aug 2009