NTB-entrepreneurs spat hits tourism

The ongoing protest by tourism entrepreneurs against Nepal Tourism Board has begun taking a toll on the industry as a whole, particularly in the Lake City, the major tourism hub of the country.Since Sunday, 35 different tourism-related organisations of Pokhara led by Pokhara Tourism Council have been staging a sit-in at the board’s regional office at Damsite, in a show of solidarity with the Joint Tourism Coordination Committee’s Capital-centred agitation.Council Chairperson Surya Bahadur Bhujel said, “It’s unfortunate that the protest is having a negative impact on the industry, but we are in no mood to withdraw or halt the protest until and unless our righteous demands are addressed by the concerned authorities.”The board’s regional office Chief Shraddha Shrestha informed that programmes like rural tourism training, tour and other tourism-related programmes have been halted due to the protest. Chairperson Bhujel informed of their plan to further intensify the protest. “We’re helpless and will be compelled to intensify our protest until our demands are met,” he remarked, adding that they will start distributing trekking information management system cards only after their intensified protest plan becomes definite. Among other demands are state intervention, removal of the board’s Acting Executive Chief Subas Niraula and a appointment in his place. A meeting between the committee and tourism secretary ended inconclusively, on Monday.

Source: The Himalayan Times