Regional Tourism, Rebuilding Connect and addressing the needs of a Connected Traveler was the theme of TAAI’S 66th convention, the three-day event which was held aboard the Spectrum of the Seas of Royal Caribbean from August 22-25, off the coast of Singapore. The convention was attended by over 300 members of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) as well as media and representatives of tourism departments of several Asian countries and airlines including key representatives from Nepal Tourism Board, NATTA, Sri Lanka Tourism and Kazhak Tourism. At the invitation of TAAI, Nepal Tourism Board and NATTA jointly coordinated the tourism stakeholders from Nepal to connect with the travel fraternity from India and other countries. The delegation of sixteen tourism personalities participated in the Convention. During three days, a Press Conference and Nepal Night Program were also organized by NTB highlighting the tourism potentialities and encouraging the visitors to visit the country to Read More
The following day after the Annual General Meeting in Lumbini, the Delegations participated in the 8th Annual General Meeting and 4th Convention on 21st August 2022 organized by NATTA Palpa Chapter. Mayor of Tansen Municipality Mr. Santosh Lal Shrestha inaugurated the General Meeting and Convention. Likewise, Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal Former Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, NATTA Central President Mr. Ramesh Thapa, NATTA Gandaki Province Mr. Hariram Adhikari were in the program as Special Guest. A new Executive Committee has been formed at the Annual General Meeting of the NATTA Palpa Chapter under the leadership of Mr. Rajiv Shah. The new Executive Board comprises of Mr. Pradeep Udaya as Immediate Past President, Mr. Satish Raj Shakya as Secretary, Mr. Rupam Kakshapati as Treasurer, Ms. Gyanu Karki, Mr. Ashok Thapa and Mr. Dhiren Pradhan as Executive Members. NATTA Delegations from NATTA Headquarter, Madhesh Province, Gandaki Province, Sudurpaschim Province, Banke Chapter and Palpa Read More
Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) Lumbini Province's 16th Annual General Assembly and Convention was held on Saturday in Bhairahawa on 20th August 2022. At the AGM and Convention, a new executive committee chaired by Ms. Rachana Panta was unanimously elected. Likewise, Mr. Chandra Bahadur Thapa as Senior Vice President, Mr. Kulchandra Pandey as Second Vice President, Mr. Anilman Shrestha as Third Vice President, Mr. Anjan Shrestha as General Secretary, Ms. Gyanumaya Pokhrel as Secretary, Mr. Sujit Shrivastav as Treasurer and Mr. Virat Shrestha as Joint Treasurer were elected. Similar working committee members are Ms. Sita Basyal, Mr. Manju Giri Puri, Mr. Ganesh Bhattarai, Mr. Govind Singh Saluja, Mr. Fanindra Poudel, Ms. Bina Neupane and Mr. Dipesh Gupta. Minister for Tourism, Rural and Urban Development of Lumbini Province Mr. Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary inaugurated the General Assembly and Convention. NATTA Delegations from NATTA Headquarter, Madhesh Province, Gandaki Province, Sudurpaschim Read More
On the occasion of the 19th Annual General Meeting of Nepal Tourist Vehicle Association (NTVA) on 18th August 2022, NATTA Executives were honored. NTVA felicitated Executive Members of NATTA after the successful election for the year 2022-2024. NATTA President Mr. Ramesh Thapa, IPP Mr. Achyut Guragain and other Executives were present at the program.
Mr. Samhan Alsamhan, Manager of Kuwait Airways along with his country companions Mr. Sunil Pal and Mr. Sailesh Shahi called on NATTA Secretariat on 18th August and had discussions with President, Secretary General, Secretary, Treasurer, Executive Members and CEO. The Consultation Meeting was held mainly about the flight operations and its expansion as Kuwait Airways plans to officially inaugurate its first flight on the date of October 30, 2022, from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Nepal. Mr. Samhan Alsamhan expressed his positive findings regarding the potential of tourism in Nepal and believed to receive the support welcoming the 3-Star Airline. Both Kuwait Airways and NATTA assured that they would look into the possibilities of assisting each other in whatever way possible in the days to come.
Khempo Kamal Bhandari, President of Nepal Buddhist Federation graced a meeting at NATTA Secretariat on 17th August 2022. Firstly, NATTA felicitated and congratulated him on his new role with best wishes. NATTA also expressed hope that the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, Lumbini, the sacred place become the attention of all Buddhist Associations and trusted that Khempo Bhandari would help in making NATTA’s upcoming event Buddhist International Travel Mart (BITM) successful. Khempo Bhandari spoke at length on how Nepal could be a centre of attraction for Buddhist followers from around the world.
On August 11 2022, a Partnership Agreement has been signed with the Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA) and Sustainable Tourism Recovery Project (STLRP) to implement training for 360 youths to enhance their capacity on the topics of tour design and itinerary planning, online ticketing and customer services. NATTA will call for the participants to its members and choose accordingly based on their certain experience and qualifications. STLRP is a project being implemented by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in assisting the vulnerable workforce of the tourism sector by providing short term employment, tourism infrastructure & HR development. This will be the second project of NATTA with the organization after completing the first project post-COVID providing short-term employment to the tourism workers.
Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) Delegation visited the office of the National Sports Council on 10th August 2022 to meet and congratulate newly appointed Member Secretary Mr. Tanka Lal Ghising. At the meeting, the delegation expressed that his appointment will have much achievement in the Sports industry. And since, sports is also one of the high prospects in the tourism industry that NATTA is ready to cooperate and work together with the Sports Council in the future for the advancement of the industry. President Mr. Ramesh Thapa, Senior Vice President Mr. Pramod Dahal, Secretary General Mr. Kumar Mani Thapaliya, Treasurer Mr. Raj Kumar Devkota, Executive Member Mr. Dendi Sherpa and CEO Mr. Uttam Prasad Devkota were part of the delegation.
With the increasing rate of fuel in the country, the tourism industry has not remained detached from all these issues. The Vehicle rates that had been published previously have become difficult to continue currently with the escalation of petrol/diesel charges. To discuss this trending issue number of participations of tour operators specializing in tours were invited to the meeting at NATTA Secretariat on the 8th of August. Representatives of Member companies; Swift Holidays, Vista Travels, Kora Tours and other members including NATTA Executives were present in the Interaction program.
On the celebration of the 67th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and China, the Embassy of Nepal, Beijing organized a program on 'Mountaineering and Trekking in Nepal' under the program related to economic diplomacy on the embassy premises on 7th August 2022. The newly appointed Ambassador of Nepal to China, His Excellency Mr. Bishnu Pukar Shrestha in his welcome speech highlighted the cordial bilateral relations between Nepal and China that will be further strengthened by high-level visits and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. The program honored the Chinese citizens who climbed Mount Everest on behalf of Nepal and promoted the great potential of mountain climbing and trekking tourism in Nepal. On behalf of Nepal, the President of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA), Mr. Ramesh Thapa gave a virtual presentation and shed light on the features and attractions of Nepal's mountain climbing Read More
A Tourism Revival Steering Committee has been formed in preparation for Tourism Revival Action Plan 2079 to reduce the negative impact of Nepal's tourism sector affected due to COVID. In further facilitation of effective implementation of the action plan, NATTA has been nominated as a Member of the Committee which has been formed under the chairmanship of Hon'ble Tourism Minister, Mr. Jeevan Ram Shrestha, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.
On August 04, 2022, at the invitation of NATTA newly appointed Ambassadors of Nepal participated in a meeting organized at NATTA Secretariat, Gairidhara. Welcoming all the Ambassadors at NATTA, Executive Members congratulated and extended best wishes for the successful tenure. Secretary General Mr. Kumar Mani Thapaliya presented the presentation about NATTA with its history and workings along with the role of the Nepalese Mission. Speaking at the occasion, President Mr. Ramesh Thapa enlightened the involvement of NATTA in various tourism promotional programs in different destinations. President Thapa also urged for the possible digitalization of visas, and the opening of the Embassy in Nepal as well for visa processing of the countries. Matters like establishing direct airline connectivity and Nepalese tourism programs in the countries were also discussed elaborately. Ambassadors expressed their appreciation and gratefulness towards NATTA for their cordial invitation and felicitation. Excellencies also conveyed their understandings and challenges to Read More
In keeping with the NATTA Statute and with the unanimous approval of the Board, Mr. Suresh Amgain, Managing Director of Trail Blazer Travels & Tours Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. Govind Dahal, Green Horizon Tours Pvt. Ltd. had been nominated as new members of the NATTA Executive Committee. The new Executive Members were welcomed at the 6th Board Meeting.
The eighth annual general meeting and fourth convention of NATTA Sudurpaschim concluded on 30th July 2022 in Dhangadhi inaugurated by the Chief Guest Hon'ble Minister of Internal Affairs and Law, Dr. Ran Bahadur Rawal. President of NATTA Central Mr. Ramesh Thapa participated in the AGM as a Special Guest. NATTA Executive Members Ms. Shradha Joshi and Ms. Sabala Bhandari were also present at the event. NATTA Gandaki Province President Mr. Hariram Adhikari and Secretary Mr. Chetan Karki along with other Province Members also participated in the event. The Annual general meeting elected a new working committee of NATTA Sudurpaschim Province under the chairmanship of Mr. Padam Bikram Singh. Similarly, Vice President Mr. Dhananjay Jaishi, General Secretary Mr. Shivhari Pandey, Treasurer Mr. Lokraj Bhatt, Secretary Ms. Sabita Ayer and Executive Members Mr. Padam Bahadur Chand, Mr. Bikram Thakulla, Mr. Kishore Khadka, Mr. Mekhendra Khatri have been voted as a Board Members Read More
Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) organized a Digital Marketing Training in collaboration with PUM Netherlands Senior Expert, Mr. Jeroen Vinkesteijn from July 21-28, 2022. The program concluded with certificate distribution. NTB CEO Dr. Dhananjay Regmi congratulated the participants and spoke of the relevance of such training in the current context. There were more than 60 participants from the private sector & NTB. NATTA circulated its members inviting the participants in the said training coordinated by Secretary Ms. Yubika Bhandari. A number of ten companies from NATTA participated in the Digital Marketing training.
As a part of the Sustainable Tourism and Green Growth for Heritage Settlements of the Kathmandu Valley project funded under SWITCH – Asia intervention of the European Union in partnership with UN-Habitat, the team of UN-Habitat visited at NATTA Secretariat on 27th July 2022 for the alliance with NATTA in their sustainable tourism development in Bungamati, Pilachhen and other heritage settlements. The major objective was to support the local government and community of Bungamati for the upcoming tourism season by presenting Bungamati as a touristic destination for different stakeholders, especially tours and travel companies. Therefore, the team requested NATTA the cooperation in inviting tourism stakeholders in an interaction program that would also be an eye-opener to the local government and communities regarding the existing condition of the settlement from the perspective of the tourism industries Soon, the Interaction program is being held.
The Embassy of Nepal, Bahrain organized a Tourism Promotion Program on July 23, 2022, in Manama, Bahrain. NATTA had received an invitation to attend the event as a Special Guest. Therefore, the President of NATTA, Mr. Ramesh Thapa representing the tourism industry of Nepal participated in the event and presented a PowerPoint presentation. The presentation was about Nepal with landmarks and diverse activities that can be entertained in Nepal by tourists. It apprised about the travellers can take from the registered travel Agents and Tour Operators of NATTA who are enthusiasts to conduct special interest tours and guide the visitors to the places. President also emphasized the relations between Nepal and the Kingdom of Bahrain along with the potential of tourism and a need to focus on marketing strategies and organize tourism promotional programs bilaterally. Acting Ambassador of Nepal to Bahrain, Ms. Aruna Ghising highlighted many attractive destinations of Nepal Read More
The 19th Annual General Meeting of CNI was held on 24th July 2022 which was inaugurated by Rt. Hon'ble Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. The meeting showcased CNI's accomplishments and outlined future ambitions and launched the CNI Website and App by Rt. Hon'ble Prime Minister. Representing NATTA, IPP Mr. Achyut Guragain and Secretary General Mr. Kumar Mani Thapaliya participated in the General Meeting.
ILO in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MOLESS) organized two days of Capacity building on Green Jobs and a study validation Workshop from 20th to 21 July 2022 at Hotel Radisson, Kathmandu. On behalf of NATTA, CEO Mr. Uttam Prasad Devkota participated in the two day program. The purpose of the technical validation workshop was to validate the findings of the global policy-applied research project on Skills for Green Jobs. The workshop aimed to: a) identify environmental challenges and skills response strategies; b) discuss green restructuring processes on the labour market and related retraining needs; c) highlight current and future occupational changes and their implication on vocational training; d) propose specific policy recommendations and suggestions for further steps. The ILO, with advisory support from the MOLESS and in collaboration with social partners, has been implementing the ILO’s Regulatory Budget Supplementary Account (RBSA) - Skills programme.
NATTA Delegation comprising IPP Mr. Achyut Guragain, Secretary General Mr. Kumar Mani Thapaliya, Secretary Ms. Yubika Bhandari and Executive Member Mr. Dendi Sherpa visited the office of the Ministry to congratulate the newly appointed Ambassador of Nepal for Egypt H.E Mr. Sushil Lamsal on 21st July 2022.. The delegation had a fruitful conversation regarding the promotion and increase in the movement of tourists from Northern African countries to Nepal.
