On 31st January 2020, Nepal Association of Rafting Agencies (NARA) organized a Breakfast Meeting with Executives of Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA), Nepal Association of Rafting Agencies (NARA), Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) and Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) at Apsara Boutique Hotel. The meeting attended by almost seventeen tourism related associations focused on various agendas including Tourism Act /Policies, Visit Nepal Year (VNY) 2020, Tourist Bus Park, Coordinating with Government and Tourism Board and other matters. The meeting finally concluded with a resolution that all associations will submit the list of their identified problems with suggestive measures to Tourism Ministry. The associations will also stress the Government to bring out the effective strategies to be taken for the effective Visit Nepal Year 2020 celebration. Soon, a Joint program will be organized with all the tourism associations and Government bodies and Nepal Tourism Board and discuss the Airport Read More
Press Release: Situation Update from MoCTCA Wednesday, January 29th, 2020 Press Release: Situation Update Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation Government of Nepal Jan. 29, 2020 The spread of Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China has been noted with concern by Nepal. To study and analyze negative effects of 2019-nCoV, a meeting was held recently by the Ministry of Health and Population in the presence of Rt. Hon’ble Prime Minister of Nepal. The meeting called for coordination among stakeholders for high precaution against nCoV. Following the same, a meeting was called among major tourism stakeholders by Hon’ble Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai on Jan. 27, 2020, to discuss further on the impact of 2019-nCoV on the ongoing national tourism campaign Visit Nepal 2020; particularly with regard to precautions to be taken, awareness generation among general public, and coordination to mitigate of the impact of 2019-nCoV. As Read More
In the initiation of NATTA President Mr. Achyut Guragain, together with tourism associations; HAN, TAAN, NMA, NATO, HRA, SOTTO, NTVA, TBAN and NARA, the associations had an Emergency meeting at Hotel Annapurna on 22nd January to discuss on the current situations of tourism. On 23rd January 2020, tourism associations led by NATTA visited MoCTCA and submitted a Joint Appeal to Hon'ble Tourism Minister Mr. Yogesh Bhattarai Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA). The appeal had requested Hon'ble Minister to appoint the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nepal Tourism Board as quickly as possible. As the appointment process of the Chief Executive Officer of the Nepal Tourism Board landed in a state of uncertainty, appearing to be interference in the recruitment process. Likewise, Visit Nepal Year 2020 had been launched in such an extravagant way but the promotions and campaign activities seemed to be at a slow pace just Read More
Mr. Achyut Guragain has been elected as the President of Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA) at the election held on 17th January 2020 at Hotel Radisson. Likewise, Mr. Binay Basnet was elected the Senior Vice President, Mr. Ramesh Thapa the Vice President, Mr. Sudhir Kumar Upadhyay the Secretary General, Ms. Jiswan Tuladhar Shrestha the Secretary, Mr. Kumar Mani Thapaliya the Treasurer and Ms. Yubika Bhandari the Joint-Treasurer. Likewise, Ms. Geeta Dhakal, Ms. Laxmi Karki Adhikari, Mr, Bishnu Karki, Mr. Hari Kumar Shrestha, Mr. Bharat Jung Pandey, Mr. Subarna Shrestha, Mr. Dendi Sherpa and Mr. Raj Kumar Devkota, were elected as members of the new executive committee of the Association. The newly elected Executive Committee will serve for two years, 2020-2022. Out of 498 valid voters, 405 voters cast their votes.
Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) organised its 53rd Annual General Meeting & Election of New Executive Committee at Hotel Radisson on 17th January 2020. Inaugurated by Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), Hon'ble Mr. Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai as a Chief Guest, the event was graced by other special guests as Secretary of MoCTCA, Mr. Kedar Bahadur Adhikari and President of Universal of Federation of Travel Agents Association (UFTAA), Mr. Sunil Kumar R. President of NATTA Mr. CN Pandey initiated the program with his welcome speech. Giving insight to the world travel and tourism Special Guest Mr. Sunil Kumar R presented a Special Presentation to the spectators. Mr. Sunil Kumar on his presentation said that the number of travellers is expected to double by 2037; 27 share being from the Asia-Pacific region. “As travel agents, we need to step up to improve our marketing strategy and Read More
New Members were welcomed at NATTA Secretariat on its 33rd & 34th Board Meeting. New Members of NATTA are: Swornim Tours & Travels Pvt. Ltd Buddha International Travel & Tours Pvt. Ltd Swargadwari Travels & Tours Pvt. Ltd Praxis International Pvt. Ltd. Samsara Ticketing Services Pvt. Ltd Holiday Travels & Tours Pvt. Ltd Exotic Destination Tours & Travels Pvt. Ltd Adventure World Trails & Travels Pvt. Ltd Sun N Fun Holidays Pvt. Ltd Kool Kancha Travels Pvt.Ltd Zest Holidays Pvt. Ltd Moon Sun Holiday Pvt. Ltd They were welcomed by President Mr. CN Pandey and all present board members, with Khada, Membership Certificate and NATTA’s publication materials.
International Mountain Day 2019 was observed on December 11 with various events organised within the Kathmandu valley. Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), in association with Nepal Tourism Board, Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal, Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents along with other tourism associations, had organized the events in the valley. The day was marked with the international slogan for this year — ‘Mountain Matters for Youth’. The event kicked off by organising Tenzing-Hillary procession that commenced from Basantapur and passed through Chhetrapati, Ganeshman Singh Road, Thamel before concluding at NMA office in Naxal.
The case on refund case of Jet Airways has been a great matter of concern in the ticketing agents in the tourism sector. NATTA had formed a Settlement Committee in the coordination of Secretary General Mr. Ramesh Thapa with Sub coordinator Mr. Ramesh Paudel, Members Mr. Raju Dhakal, Ms. Mihika Dhakwa, Mr. Chitra Bahadur Gurung, Mr. Shyam Thapaliya and Mr. Rishi Dhamala to work on the issue. APJC Coordinator and Secretary General Mr. Thapa had communicated several times with IATA regarding the refunds and the settlement committee compel of taking legal action if not solved within certain days. In having frequent communication and coordination with IATA, IATA hadn’t been able to recover the funds. On 3rd December 2019, Refund Settlement Committee Members and a Legal Advisor had a meeting to have the discussion on this issue at NATTA Secretariat. On 4th December 2019 NATTA with the committee members; Ms. Mihika Read More
Nepal Association of Tourism and Travel Agents (NATTA) signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Visit Nepal Year 2020 Secretariat on November 28 2019, to promote the national campaign Visit Nepal Year 2020. During the MOU signing ceremony, it was declared that a special package with 10% discounts for traveller’s during VNY 2020 will be created. Likewise, requesting for special fares to national and international airlines during VNY, featuring VNY campaign in all the promotional activities of NATTA and so on have been included in the MOU. Past President of NATTA, Mr. RR Pandey shared that the target of 2 million tourists for 2020 is an ambitious project adding “But it is good because it is said that you need an aim to touch the moon.” He also added that to achieve this target, creating good quality services/products and then promoting them in the target destinations should go side by Read More
In conjunction with Nepal Tourism Board, NATTA is coordinating Nepal’s participation in 40th FITUR-2020 which is being held from January 22-26 2020 at Madrid, Spain. Nepal will be showcasing its tourism products in one of the coveted Fair in Europe. On this regard, Briefing Session with participants of FITUR along with NTB officials was held at NATTA Secretariat on 29th November 2019. The meeting was held to discuss the details about Nepal Pavilion in FITUR and certain norms to be applied during FITUR participation. On the session, stalls of participants were allocated by lucky draw. FITUR is a regular event in the annual calendar of NATTA. It is a global meeting point for tourism professionals and the leading trade fair for inbound and outbound tourism markets. NATTA has been coordinating the participation for many years in coordination with NTB. NATTA has nominated Mr. Shreeram Pandey, Executive Member as a Coordinator Read More
On 17th November 2019, a Debriefing Session was held at NATTA Secretariat with the participants of PHILOXENIA Expo. On the Session, participants had a positive response towards the coordination of Nepal's Participation. However participants have given some of the suggestions such as increasing the space from the current year, a Press Meet to be organized in Greece as well at least before 2 days of the Expo, organizing a Sales Mission program in of the city if Greece like Athens, participating in Inauguration Program of the Expo and have the presentation and speech on Nepal and to start working earlier from the date of Expo with much more ideas. The suggestions and comments shared by the participants have been noted positively to implement for the greater success of the next participation.
Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA) took a lead to participate in a tourism promotional event titled PHILOXENIA Expo 2019 in Thessaloniki, Greece which started from 8-10 November 2019 in the coordination of Nepal Tourism Board. Honorable Tourism Minister of Greece Mr. Haris Theoharis graced Nepal Pavilion in the Expo and interacted with the participants from Nepal. The Pavilion was also visited by Consulates from different countries. During the Expo, NTB Senior Director Ms. Nandini Lahe Thapa & Coordinator Mr. Ramesh Thapa presented Token of Love from Nepal to the Tourism Minister of Greece, Organizer as well as the consulates of different countries. At the expo, Honorable Consulate General of Greece for Nepal Mr. Bikram Pandey Kaji, also visited Nepal Pavilion. Mr. Ramesh Thapa and Ms. Nandini Lahe Thapa also participated on Press meet held in Greece on the occasion of Expo where Nepal had an opportunity to Read More
A joint meeting was held in NATTA Secretariat on November 4th 2019, with NATTA Executive Board and the President and General Secretary of TAAN, NARA, NTVA and TURGAN. The meeting chaired by NATTA President Mr. CN Pandey had a comprehensive discussion on the concerns about contribution in the tourism sector by the associations for making Visit Nepal Year (VNY) 2020 successful. All the participants at the meeting expressed their suggestions and ideas to be implemented to the soonest possible for making our national campaign successful.
A press meet was organized at NATTA Secretariat on 3rd Nov.2019 to apprise the media about Nepal's 1st participation in PHILOXENIA EXPO 2019, promoting Destination Nepal in Greece. Numbers of media were present in the press meet. President Mr. CN Pandey and Coordinator for Nepal's Participation in Expo, Mr. Ramesh Thapa informed the media about the historic 35-year-old PHILOXENIA Expo and completion of the arrangements for participation. Mr. Thapa also apprised that the participation of Nepalese tourism stakeholders and promotion of Nepal in the Philoxenia Expo will also be supportive for VNY 2020. NATTA delegations, Nepal Tourism Board Delegations Mr. Sitaram Dahal & Mr. Diwakar Rana from were also present in Press Meet.
On the occasion of 40th World tourism Day, a Rally Program inviting all tourism associations, tourism stakeholders, diplomatic missions and media persons was organized on 27th September 2019 in which Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA) also showed its active participation. The rally that started from the premises of Sanchaya Kosh Building Thamel to Gantantra Park, Narayanhiti was then converted into a formal programme at the Republic Monument in the Eastern part of the Narayanhiti Palace which was inaugurated by State Minister of MoCTCA, Mr. Dhan Bahadur Budha. The formal program and Rally was participated by high officials of MoCTCA, tourism entrepreneurs and organizations as well as general public took part in the Rally. The event was jointly hosted by Tourism Ministry, Nepal Tourism Board and Visit Nepal Secretariat. September 27 is being celebrated as World Tourism Day at the call of United Nations World Tourism Association. Nepal Read More
NATTA organized IATA/BSP Refresher Training on 27th September at Nepal Tourism Board, Lecture Hall on the occasion of World Tourism Day. Around 30 participants from different travel and tours agent participated this training program. Ms. Kyarina Maharjan from IATA Nepal trained and updated about the IATA/BSP amendments. CEO of NTB Mr. Deepak Raj Joshi at the end of training session cheered all the participants for their active participation and encouraged to be part of all the updates happening in this digital world was hopeful for the upcoming VNY 2020. This training event was coordinated by Secretary General of NATTA Mr. Ramesh Thapa.
Marking the 40th World Tourism Day, from the regular calendar of events of NATTA, NATTA organized a noble activity Eight NATTA Blood Donation Program in collaboration with Nepal Red Cross Society at Goma Ganesh Temple, Goma Ganesh premises on Wednesday, 25th September 2019. The program was inaugurated by President Mr. CN Pandey, where the number of participants participated in donating blood. The program conducted each year by NATTA was successful to involve the number of donors which was highly appreciated this year. 8th Blood Donation Program was coordinated by Executive Member Ms. Inu Thapa.
On the day of 22nd September 2019, NATTA XXII Convention and Special Program 2019 was held at Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza amidst the presence of national dignitaries, media personalities, diplomatic communities, national and international airlines members and members of travel trade fraternity of Nepal. The theme of the celebration was, "Enhancing Tourism Through Digitalization" with an aim to bring tourism to the special focus of the country digitally. Inaugurated by Hon. State Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Mr. Dhan Bahadur Buda, XXII Convention and Special Program were also attended by Joint Secretary of MoCTCA, Mr. Ghanashyam Upadhyay, high ranking Government Officials, dignitaries from international and national airlines, diplomatic missions, presidents of tourism associations, former presidents and office bearers of NATTA, members from tourism fraternity, media etc. On the occasion, the website of Buddhist International Travel Mart (BITM) was officially launched by our Chief Guest. Likewise, NATTA also Read More
NATTA organized a Felicitation Program for newly elected tourism associations; HAN, TAAN, NARA and NTVA at Hotel Shangrila on 24th September 2019. President CN Pandey felicitated all the Presidents of the association while the Executive Members were felicitated by Executive Members of NATTA. Compered by Secretary General Mr. Ramesh Thapa, the program had the participation of all the newly elected Committee of the associations along with NATTA Executive Members. On the program, Presidents of all the associations speaking at the program thanked NATTA for organizing such a congratulatory program. Presidents also stressed that the mutual tourism issues faced in the industry should be presented to the concerned authority with one voice together. Also in the program, the associations present in the program agreed to put forward the concerns like; emphasis on digitalization in marketing strategies, authorized representative of private sector in NAC and NTB should coordinate with Read More
NATTA received an invitation from World Tourism Alliance (WTA) at the second annual Xianghu Dialogue in Hangzhou, China which was held from Sept. 18-21, 2019. This year’s Dialogue focused on “Today’s Travel & Tourism Industry: Responding & Adapting to Rapid Growth and Transition.” Important topics included the Global Travel & Tourism Developments and Trends; Destination Marketing and Big Data, Technology Advancement & Industries Innovation and many more relevant issues and challenges facing our industry were addressed in collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), World Bank, European Tourism Commission (ETC), Global Tourism Economic Forum (GTEF) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). WTA has grown up one step after another into its second year. This year the event received the participation from more than 500 local and international attendees from the global travel and tourism industry. Senior Vice President Mr. Achyut Sharma Guragain participated in the event Read More
