Joint Tourism Coordination Committee, established more than a year ago to work as a watchdog against the existing discrepancies in the tourism sector, is a joint committee of more than forty-nine travel related associations in the country. It has the tradition of nominating its Coordinator from one of the member associations for the tenure of six months. Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) President Mr. R. Dhamala being the founder coordinator for six months had handed over the responsibilities to NATTA six months ago and NATTA President Mr. D.B. Limbu who acted as the honcho of the committee has completed his tenure quite successfully and now the coordinator ship of JTCC has been shifted to Nepal Rafting Agents’ Association (NARA). NARA President Mr. Chandra Dahal took over the JTCC leadership on 02nd August 2015 amidst a program held at the auditorium hall of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) in the presence Read More
Nepal Rastra Bank unveiled its monetary policy for the F/Y 2072-73 at a program organized in Kathmandu on July 23 last. NATTA Treasurer Mr. Narayan Prasad Gurung Koney represented in the program. Earlier, NATTA delegates had met the Governor of the Bank Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal at his office and requested him to look into the problems caused by the duel currency system in IATA payment and the problem of the tour operators handling the Indian groups visiting Mansarovar-Kailash via Nepal. NATTA had demanded that the Indian pilgrims heading to Kailash should be facilitated with required US dollars in exchange of Indian Currency on the basis of the invoice they receive from Tibetan/Chinese Tour Operators for their services across the border. Nepal Rastra Bank doesn’t seem to have considered the NATTA demand of removing the dual currency system in IATA payment but has created the provision of Foreign Exchange facility upto US$500 to Indian tourists visiting Read More
A NATTA delegation led by President D.B. Limbu called on the office of Mr. Ramesh Kumar Adhikari, Administrative Chief of Nepal Tourism Board and apprised him of the forthcoming promotional programs of the association. The delegates also requested the Chief to incorporate those programs in NTB’s Annual Plan of Action and extend support and co-operation to NATTA in implementing them. NATTA Programs submitted to NTB includes: NATTA Fam Trip for 50 pax including int’l media and tour operators (Mid Sept),Himalayan Travel Mart (May, 2016), Participation in MATTA Fair in Kuala Lumpur followed by Sales Mission to Penang (05-07 Sept.), Participation in OTM/TTF (Mumbai) followed by Sales Mission to Ahmedabad in Gujarat (Jan. 2016), MITT (Russia- March 2016), COTTM followed by Sales Mission to three major cities of China (Jan-Feb 2016), FITUR (Jan-Feb, 2016), TITF (Bangkok), BITF (Dhaka), Travel Adventure Show in Chicago, USA in Jan 2016 and participation in ATM Read More
A group of local tourism enthusiasts Passion to Travel after completing its ever first promotional documentary reflecting the current tourism scenario of Nepal after the 25 April earthquake presented the documentary at NATTA meeting hall on 14th July. Mr. Pankaj Pradhananga from Four Season Travel & Tours, one of the pioneers in the group narrated the rationale behind the production of the documentary and hoped that this four minute long documentary could play an instrumental role in bouncing our tourism back to a better status. The documentary is now already in the YouTube for the general viewers. Speaking on the occasion President D.B. Limbu and Secretary General Mihika Dhakhwa thanked the producers and hoped that in future Passion to Travel will seriously brood on producing additional sequel of this documentary aiming the dissemination of positive messages about Nepal’s tourism. The video can be viewed in the following link: Read More
A joint meeting of NATTA Executive Board with NATTA Advisory Committee and Past Presidents of NATTA was held on Friday, the 10th July last to reflect on the problems faced by quite a number of ticketing professionals of NATTA as a result of the indefinite closure of all the offices of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs in Kathmandu in protest against the government decision of sending the Nepalese labor force to seven of the foreign countries on free visa and free air tickets. As suggested by the above meeting, a four-member delegation of NATTA met the Hon’ble Minister for Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation on Monday, the 13th July ‘15 and apprised him of the situation and requested him to coordinate with the Hon’ble State Minister for Labor to find a win-win solution to the problem immediately. NATTA delegates then called on the Labor Minister on the same day. Read More
NATTA is going to host its biennial event 20th NATTA Convention and 06th NATTA Special Program– Carnival 2015 on 25th September this year in Kathmandu with the theme “Building Better Tourism with Renewed Strength”. As per the tradition NATTA publishes a Souvenir on the occasion to mark the event and distribute the same to all the participants including the delegates from various countries and all the invitees from the tourism fraternity. NATTA Members with facile pen are herby requested to kindly ink out their ideas and feeling on tourism issues focusing on the given theme and email the same to NATTA Secretariat at natta@mail.com.np or mediacentre@natta.org.np Articles for the Souvenir must not exceed the word limitation of 2000 and should be in typed form in English with double space. The deadline for the submission of articles is 03rd August 2015. The articles selected by the Editorial Board will be published in the NATTA Souvenir.
NATTA is proud to inform its members that the National Tourism Promotion Committee formed under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Minster for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has upheld the NATTA suggestions for implementation for the rapid recovery of current national tourism scenario. The suggestions were put up at various forums including at the meetings of Tourism Recovery Committee (TRC). Few of our suggestions that are included: exemption of VAT on aviation fuel, slash the ground handling cost at TIA, decrease the landing cost at TIA and extension of loan recovery deadline for the tourism sector by a year and expedite the construction of alternative international airports.
A five- member delegation of NATTA called on the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal on Thursday, the 09th July, 2015 and apprised him of a few problems faced by NATTA members which could be easily solved by NRB through its fiscal policy. The suggestions to solve the problems cited by NATTA included provision of exchange facility to the Indian nationals visiting Mansarovar Kailash to settle the invoice of the Tibetan tour operators in terms of dollars. Secondly, the delegation suggested removing the dual currency system in IATA payment by allowing the agents to make all the payments in NPR. Thirdly, the Bank Guarantee payable to NRB for foreign exchange facility should be made timely. NATTA delegation to NRB was led by President D.B. Limbu and it included Secy. General Mihika Dhakhwa, Treasurer Mr. Narayan Gurung Koney, Secretary Mr. Ramesh Thapa and CEO Prof. Hari Sarmah.
A good news! Automatic Pricing in ATF soon Further to NATTA’s pursuance to ease international flights to Nepal in the post earthquake situation government authorities including Ministry for Commerce & Supplies is preparing to enforce automatic pricing mechanism for aviation turbine fuel (ATF) almost a year after the enforcement of the system for petrol, diesel and kerosene. Though belated, isn’t it a good news?
SAMARTH Nepal Market Development Program (NMDP) organized an interaction program titled the “Turning Point in Tourism” at the Hotel Annapurna on 28th June’15. The event on was successful in bringing together international tour operators and Nepal tourism operators to discuss how to turn tourism recovery into a reality. SAMARTH, opened the meeting welcoming 7 leading tour operators from Europe, the UK, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Japan and Asia. Almost all of them had a valid concern over the negative travel advisories against Nepal, directly affecting travel, travel insurance, and killing the business. Needless to say, it has posed a great hurdle for the country's tourism recovery efforts. The presentation by the international tour operators was followed by a discussion and Q&A session which was moderated by the Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) President, Ashok Pokharel. It was an engaging session as it helped the local operators to understand the expectations and perceptions of foreign tour operators. The industry cannot thank Read More
Kathmandu: The 20th Biennial Convention of Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA) will be held in Kathmandu on 25th September, 2015. NATTA Board Meeting held Thursday, the 25th June has finalized the theme for the NATTA Convention. It is, “Building Better Tourism with Renewed Strength”. This theme has been approved as quite suitable in the wake of our efforts to restore and rebuild the damages caused by the April 25th Earthquake. NATTA will begin all its preparations to hold this convention with immediate effect although the venue is yet to be fixed. Nevertheless, NATTA Special Program-Carnival 2015 and NATTA Convention will be held on the same day. Morning session will be given for the Convention and the late afternoon will highlight NATTA Special Program-Carnival. The same day, we are also planning to have the Board Meeting of South Asian Tourism Federation at the same venue. NATTA President is the Vice Chairman of the Federation. The detail program is under Read More
Kathmandu: A two-day long seminar on “Appreciative Inquiry for Tourism Business” was held at Megha Malhar Hall, Hotel Soaltee on 19th and 20th June ’15. The seminar was organized by Nepal Tourism Board. The seminar was held for the Tourism stakeholders to help them in capacity building to deal with the present and imminent obstacles caused by the damage of historical monuments and a few heritage sites in the valley. Ms. Sabita Bhattarai K.C, Ms. Kamla Gurung and Ms. Phudoma Sherpa participated in the program representing NATTA.
NATTA has set up a Relief Fund to support the victims of recent Earthquake disaster. Request you to kindly contribute generously by sending cash/cheque to NATTA Secretariat. Below is the list of Contributors who have contributed towards the NATTA Relief Fund for the Earthquake Victims: S.N Name Travel / Organization Relief Amount 1. Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) 2,50,000/- 2. Hongkong Judiciary Registered Interpreters 1,35,000/- 3. Mr. Ram Shrestha (Harvest Moon Travel) 51,000/- 4. Sahara Samuha Nepal (SSN) 50,000/- 5. Mr. Parasar Prasai (Universal Tours) 25,000/- 6. Mr. Peter Ko (Arniko International) 20,000/- 7. Mr. Mahendra R. Paudel ‘Henny’ (Global Asia) 16,000/- 8. Mr. B.K Shrestha (Himalayan Travels) 15,575/- 9. Mr. C.N. Pandey (Samrat Tours) 15,555/- 10. Mr. M.P. Rai (Broadway Travel) 15,101/- 11. Mr. Bhola Bikram Thapa (President Travel) 15,000/- 12. Mr. D.B. Limbu (Fast Int'l Travel) 15,000/- 13. Ms. Mihika Dhakhwa (Zenith Experience) 15,000/- 14. Mr. Read More
Tourism Promotion Activity (TPA), one of the sub-components of South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Dev. Project (SATIDP) in conjunction with Lumbini Dev Trust (LDT) and Siddhartha Association of Tour & Travel Agents (SATTA) organized a two-day workshop seminar on Developing tour package to Lumbini and its surrounding areas on 17th and 18th June by outsourcing the technical services of Centre For Environment and Sustainable Tourism Development Nepal (CEST-Nepal). Mr. CN Pandey, the 2nd VP of NATTA participated in the above workshop supported by Asian Development Bank. Mr. Pandey was honored as the Chei Guest and a resource person in the Program. The prime objective of the workshop has been to explore, discuss, design and finalize the possible tour packages for the Greater Lumbini Area so as to make Lumbini a regional tourism hub in the context of upgrading Gautam Buddha Airport of Bhairahawa as a Regional International Airport.
All Valuable NATTA Members, NOTICE REGARDING 51st ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The 51st AGM of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has been slated for Friday, the 16th January 2015 as per the given schedule and details: Date: 16th January 2015 (corresponding to Magh the 2nd 2071)Venue: Hotel Radisson, Lazimpat (A) Inaugural Session Time: 0830-0900 Registration & Welcoming of Guests & Members 0900 Arrival of the Chief Guest at the venue 0905 Welcoming the Chief Guest with Bouquet & Khada 0910-0915 Welcome Speech by President Mr. D.B. Limbu 0915 Inauguration of NATTA AGM by the Chief Guest by lighting the traditional lamp 0920 Speeches (5 mts each) 1. Read More
All Valuable NATTA Members, NOTICE REGARDING 51st ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The 51st AGM of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has been slated for Friday, the 16th January 2015 as per the given schedule and details: Date: 16th January 2015 (corresponding to Magh the 2nd 2071)Venue: Hotel Radisson, Lazimpat (A) Inaugural Session Time: 0830-0900 Registration & Welcoming of Guests & Members 0900 Arrival of the Chief Guest at the venue 0905 Welcoming the Chief Guest with Bouquet & Khada 0910-0915 Welcome Speech by President Mr. D.B. Limbu 0915 Inauguration of NATTA AGM by the Chief Guest by lighting the traditional lamp 0920 Speeches (5 mts each) 1. Read More
The Second NATTA Interactive meeting, with the sole agenda “Post-Earthquake Tourism Revival Planning”, was held on Tuesday at Hotel Annapurna in the afternoon. The meeting, chaired by President Mr. D.B. Limbu, went on for about two and half hours and was followed by Hi-Tea. The Chair welcomed the participants and highlighted on the urgency of holding the meeting at this time. Secretary General Ms. Mihika Dhakhwa presented her power-point deliberation to the gathering focusing specially on NATTA’s various activities immediately after the April 25th Earthquake which included the setting up of NATTA Relief Fund, distribution of relief materials to the victims of the great disaster in districts, viz., Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Nuwakot, Okhaldhunga, Parvat and Lalitpur. She also mentioned that NATTA delegates had called on the offices of various foreign embassies and had discussions with Ambassadors of United Kingdom, Thailand, Germany and South Korea in regard to what ought to be done to restore the tourism in Nepal Read More
Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA) participated in the International Travel Trade Fair, FITUR 2015, in coordination with Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has concluded successfully.
Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA) participated in the International Travel Trade Fair, FITUR 2015, in coordination with Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has concluded successfully.
A three member NATTA delegation led by President D.B Limbu called on His Excellency Mr. Matthias Meyer, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany at his office in the German Embassy, Gyaneshwor on 9th June’15 in the morning. President Limbu thanked the friendly people and the government of Germany for all the valuable co-operation and support in the form of relief that Nepal has received during the recent crisis raised by M7.9 richter scale earthquake in Nepal. The NATTA delegates explained to Ambassador Meyer that not much of the tourism has been hit. Places like Chitwan, Bandipur, Pokhara, Lumbini, Eastern and Far Western Region. So, potential visitors from Germany and other European nations do not need to cancel their autumn itinerary in Nepal. HE the ambassador suggested that if nothing goes wrong during the upcoming monsoon, tourism in Nepal will recover speedily starting from Oct / Nov. His Excellency also envisaged that NATTA should endeavor to invite journos and operators so that they can see Nepal for themselves and encourage Read More
