NATTA delegation called on the Governor of Nepal Central Bank (Nepal Rastra Bank) Mr. Maha Prasad Adhikari on Tuesday, the 7th June 2022 and apprised him of the current problems being faced by agents specifically post COVID. Issues concerning the Bank Guarantee for Foreign Exchange License, bank loan rescheduling, providing a loan of at least twenty lakh rupees to the SMEs, easy payment system to foreign companies for outbound tour packages, continuing the provision of refinancing facilities, cash back incentives to foreign currency earning companies, ease of exchange provision to the tourist of new emerging markets like Bangladesh, provision of carrying 2500 dollar to the maximum for the Nepalese travellers travelling to Europe and America, ease of renewing the license of tourism companies with coordination between Department of Tourism and Nepal Rastra Bank were discussed upon. These were the pressing issues of travel and tourism trade and NATTA also requested Read More
On 3rd June 2022, the NATTA delegation led by President Mr. Ramesh Thapa met Mr. Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, Director General of the Department of Immigration (GON) in his good office and apprised him of the concerns faced by general members of NATTA during their tourist arrival and departure. The delegation also submitted 10- point Suggestions to the Department that had been collected from the member which includes the facility of evisa with online payment, an efficient Mobile friendly website of the Immigration Department with updated notices, Provision of Retirement Visa to foreigners who wish to stay longer in Nepal and other prominent issues relating to tourism.
On 31st May 2022, the Nepal Association of Tours and Travel Agents (NATTA) and the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a noble cause to nationally and professionally cooperate, exchange and promote each other’s tourism potential. The two parties signed the MoU given the ever-growing significance of cooperation between friendly countries Nepal and Philippines Nepal and the Philippines. NATTA President Mr. Ramesh Thapa and Ambassador of the Philippines to Nepal & India, H.E Ramon S Bagatsing Jr in the presence of Honorable Consulate of Philippines Mr. Suraj Vaidya signed the agreement at an event in Kathmandu on the occasion, International Mountaineering Tourism Day.
NATTA mourns the unfortunate news of the crash of the 9N-AET DHC-6-300 Twin Otter plane taken off from Pokhara to Jomsom at 9:55 am on 29th May 2022 that claimed the lives of all the crew members and the passengers on board. NATTA issued a Press Statement sharing its deepest condolences with the bereaving family members and with Tara Air. In the statement, NATTA also demanded for effective criteria and standards in Aviation Security by the concerned departments for the passengers to feel safe, assured and secured while flying in Nepal.
Government Officials, Diplomats, NTB officials and NATTA Members participated in the Hiking program organised to mark the International Mountain Tourism Day on 29th May 2022. NATTA in association with International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA) China organized a Hiking Program on the Sankhu-Nagarkot route. The destination has great potential being nearest to the valley with a beautiful panoramic view of the Himalayan range and pristine nature. Participants gathered at NATTA Secretariat, Naxal and were sent off by the Proposed Ambassador of Nepal to China HE Mr. Bishnu Pukar Shrestha. At the starting point of the hiking at Salinadi, the Mayor of Sankharapur Municipality Mr. Ramesh Napit welcomed the participants. Mr. Napit shared that events like this will help to promote such a traditional and religious destination in tourism and that he will provide his unwaivered support in the future for the events which will be beneficial for the development of the Read More
The 15th International Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) Day was observed today at home and abroad with various programs. The day is marked on May 29th each year in commemoration of the first successful human ascent of the world's highest peak. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Mr. Prem Bahadur Ale, government officials, distinguished personalities in the tourism industry, noted climbers and tourism entrepreneurs joined a celebration organised by the Sagarmatha Day Main Organising Committee. A morning procession was held from Thamel to the programme venue, Nepal Academy Hall. Tourism entrepreneurs and stakeholder organisations participated in the procession. An official program was held at Nepal Academy Hall just after the procession. NATTA also had its active participation in the Procession along with other Associations.
On May 24th 2022, NATTA welcomed the Nepal Government's recommended Ambassador of Nepal to China, H.E Mr. Bishnu Pukar Shrestha at NATTA Secretariat, Gairidhara. His Excellency was enlightened about the long history of the cordial relationship between the Embassy of Nepal in China and NATTA. A brief introductory presentation of NATTA showcasing our Association’s glorious history and its past and present tourism promotional activities was shown to enlighten His Excellency about NATTA’s accomplishments in the tourism industry. Furthermore, issues on matters about mutual support, cooperation and exchange in the area of promoting tourism of both the friendly countries were discussed while highlighting the role of the Embassy in the promotion of Nepalese tourism in China especially post COVID19 scenario. NATTA urged and requested H.E. to open a dedicated Tourism Department at the Embassy to better address tourism promotion and issues faced in China by Nepalese travel agents. He was further Read More
Nepal Tourism Board organized the event to welcome its newly-appointed Board Members Ms. Milan Devkota and Mr. Madan Acharya and the new Executive Board Members of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) on 23rd May 2022 at NTB Auditorium Hall. In the program, NTB Chief Executive Officer Dr Dhananjay Regmi welcomed the newly-appointed members and was apprised about the NTB's working to solve the problems of tourism after COVID-19 affected the sector. A brief introductory presentation of NTB was presented by Mr. Hikmat Iyer. Mr. Madan Acharya, Ms. Milan Thapa of NTB along with NATTA President Mr. Ramesh Thapa shared their thoughts with the audience.
SATTE, regarded as one of the most important tourism exchange fairs in South Asia was organized from 18th-20th May 2022. Many tourism industry experts participated in SATTE 2022, organized by B2B exhibition organizer Informa Markets at the India Expo Mart, Greater Noida. NATTA also had its effective participation in the most coveted travel event, SATTE as a Buyer/Seller in the event. The participation from NATTA included Immediate Past President, Mr. Achyut Guragain, Senior Vice President Mr. Pramod Dahal, Secretary General Mr. Kumar Mani Thapaliya, Secretary Ms. Yubika Bhandari, Executive Member Mr. Bishnu Pandey and other NATTA General Members. The organising committee of SATTE Informa Markets and NATTA has always shared a warm and cordial relationship. As many as 36,000 + industry buyers and trade visitors across multiple industry verticals like travel, wedding planning, and corporate travel were present at the three-day event with business opportunities. Nepal Tourism Board had also Read More
The Election Commission (EC), Nepal had approved the 'Measure on vehicles mobility management on the voting day of the local level election, 2079.' The movement of vehicles in the Valley had been banned during the prohibitory period and only essential services, candidates and their representatives were allowed to drive the vehicles on the voting day, May 13, 2022. A total of 28 NATTA member companies and their 50 vehicles were given benefitted from this NATTA initiative. Therefore for the hassle-free movements of tourists to and from the Airport to their respective destinations during this day, NATTA lobbied with several concerned ends for the Vehicle Pass for the general members. NATTA had collected requests from its members and in coordination with Nepal Tourism Board, Chief District Office and Election Commission, NATTA provided passes for their vehicles based on certain pre-defined criteria. Likewise, Shuttle Bus services were arranged to and from Airport Read More
FNCCI together with its associations organised a meeting to discuss the Work based Skill Development Program at its Secretariat, Teku on 10th May 2022. The skill development training will be provided to the participants seeking to learn about tourism. A proposal for capacity building and training for 3 months for 50 participants has been developed and sent to FNCCI by the Research, Training & Development Committee of NATTA.
The newly elected Executive Committee of NATTA led by President Mr. Ramesh Thapa met with the Executive Chairman of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Mr. Ubaraj Adhikari on 8th May 2022 at the NAC office, Kathmandu. The meeting was well attended by the Directors of the Corporation, Mr. Tanka Nidhi Dahal and CA Janak Raj Kalakheti. The NATTA Executive Committee was accorded a warm welcome by the Executive Chairman of NAC and the officials present. Speaking on the occasion, on behalf of the NATTA Executive team, President Mr. Ramesh Thapa thanked NAC for their pleasant reception and said that airlines and travel agents should complementarily work together. NATTA has had a wonderful understanding with NAC in the past and it looks forward to better and more productive days ahead by working together in tandem. NATTA also presented a certain set of points of suggestion to NAC which included expansion of Air Read More
NATTA organised a brief meeting with Dr. Jeevan Amgain, Member of Revenue Advisory Board, Ministry of Finance on 06th May 2022 at NATTA Secretariat. The meeting was organised to discuss the upcoming budget of the Nepal Government as well as the long term policy intervention of the tourism industry. The meeting highlighted the issues related to a rebate of foreign currency income to tourism based companies to support and motivate them, exemption of Value added tax (VAT) until full recovery of tourism or for a minimum of 5 years. Other relevant issues of travel and tourism related to refinancing, investment of tourism infrastructure, providing industry status to the Tourism sector, continuing 1% income tax, subsidized loan facility, e-visa with online payment system, and MICE tourism were discussed. A 21 points suggestion paper regarding the financial issues was submitted to Dr. Amgain. He assured NATTA to lobby for the issues Ministry Read More
A joint meeting was held between representatives of International Airlines operating in Nepal and NATTA Executives chaired by President Mr. Ramesh Thapa at Aranya Boutique Hotel on 05th May 2022. The meeting was an introductory meeting after the Election of the New NATTA Executive Committee with the International Airlines Executives. During the meeting, ongoing situations faced by the Travel Agents as well as International Airlines were discussed. Furthermore, future possible cooperation between the International Airlines and NATTA during tourism promotional events organized later was discussed.
TAAN organised a felicitation program in honour of the newly elected executive committee of NATTA. TAAN President Mr. Khum Bahadur Subedi welcomed NATTA President and team of NATTA. Also, on the very same day, a Joint meeting was organized by TAAN with tourism associations at its Secretariat on 29th April 2022. The meeting was organized to discuss the amended Tourism Act 2078 issued by the Government of Nepal. NATTA also surveyed its general members for feedback regarding the new Tourism Act by Bagmati Province which would be supportive of our further persuasions.
The national flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) conducted an ‘operational performance test flight’ to Gautam Buddha International Airport which serves as the country’s second International Airport on 28th April 2022. The NAC A330 wide-body aircraft took off from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 5 pm and landed at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa at 5:55 pm. NATTA Executives had also been invited to the Test Flight by Nepal Airlines Corporation and participated in the delegation of the test flight. The test flight by the wide-body Airbus at the country’s other international airport built after 74 years of the establishment of the first one is said to be historic. According to CAAN, domestic airports in Terai as well as Gautam Buddha International Airport are coming into operation for 18 hours daily. Similarly, international commercial flights would be operated at Gautam Buddha International Airport for 24 hours from upcoming Read More
In the initiation of NATTA, a letter was handed over to the Environment Department of Kathmandu Metropolitan City on 28th April for installing a mobile toilet in Sorakhutte, where Tourist Buses pick up the passengers. NATTA Secretary General Mr. Kumar Mani Thapaliya and Executive Member Mr. Dhaknath Kafle along with Mr. Milan Nepal of TBAN met with Ms. Sarita Rai, Chief of the Department to deliver the letter.
A joint meeting was held between representatives of Domestic Airlines of Nepal and NATTA Executives chaired by President Mr. Ramesh Thapa at the NATTA Secretariat on 26th April 2022. The meeting was an introductory meeting after the Election of the New NATTA Executive Committee. The meeting discussed the second edition of BITM and possible cooperation from the Domestic Airlines operating in Nepal. Also, the meeting discussed some of the rising technical issues such as esewa, Credit System to Agents, Lukla Airport and many more. Domestic Airlines Representatives were from Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Saurya Airlines, Shree and Summit Air. The meeting had the presence of Senior Vice President Mr. Pramod Dahal, Treasurer Mr. Raj Kumar Devkota, Executive Member Mr. Dendi Sherpa, CEO Mr. Uttam Prasad Devkota and COO Ms. Shradha Chhetri.
NATTA called on for the Joint Meeting with Presidents of tourism umbrella associations; HAN, TAAN, NMA, NARA, NATO, PATA, SOTTO, NTVA and TBAN on 26th April 2022 at NATTA Secretariat. The meeting started with the introduction session of New Executive Members and participated Presidents of invited Tourism Organisations. The joint meeting focused mainly on immediate actions for the survival of the tourism industry, reviving the 'One Voice for Tourism' solidarity as well as reviving the Secretary General Club of all the Associations. Also in the meeting, the Associations agreed to put forward concerns like; emphasis on digitalization in marketing strategies, and work in close coordination with Government and Nepal Tourism Board. A white paper was decided to be prepared on the challenges created by pandemic situations, infrastructure and others. Presidents also expressed their gratitude and commitment to work jointly in every way possible and visit concerned authorities together for the Read More
FNCCI invited all its Commodity Member Associations for the Preparatory Budget Program with the Revenue Consultation Committee, Government of Nepal on 26th April 2022 at FNCCI Secretariat, Teku. Mr. Kumar Mani Thapaliya, Secretary General of NATTA participated in the interaction. Mr. Thapaliya put forwarded certain suggestions to be implemented for the upcoming Budget of the Fiscal Year 2079/80. NATTA compiled all the suggestions and presented them to FNCCI. The suggestions were; refinancing should be continued for at least 5 years by Nepal Rastra Bank, a policy of 10 percent cashback incentive to be given to the agents who have contributed to importing foreign currencies in Nepal, increment of the investment in the maintenance of the infrastructure of country and many more.
