NTB for promoting domestic tourism

The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) held a meeting with various travel and trade executives with the view of formulating strong marketing and promotional strategies. Representatives of the Nepal Association of Tour and Trekking Agents (NATTA), Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO), Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) and Trekking Agency Association of Nepal (TAAN) participated in the meeting aimed at exploring key areas in marketing and promotion. The NTB’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Subash Niroula said that rapid globalization had caused a paradigm shift in tourism marketing and promotion, and it had become imperative for Nepal’s tourism industry to keep pace with the marketing shift with innovative plans and programmes. NATO President Ashok Pokharel said Nepal needed to focus on bringing quality tourists and increasing their length of stay in order to benefit the country’s tourism as a whole. He underscored the need for international marketing tie-ups with international airlines for sales missions in Europe. Meanwhile, TAAN President Mahendra Singh Thapa emphasized promoting and marketing the new trekking routes recently explored by TAAN in the international travel market. He also said that Nepal should be promoted for all seasons through festivals, events and promotional programmes in the country. Since the recent government budget has made a mandatory provision for employees of profit-making public corporations and A and B class banks and financial institution to go for internal tourism at company expense, NTB officials requested NATTA and HAN to make tour packages for domestic tourists to implement the encouraging provision. Source: ekantipur