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 SAMARTH enough for inviting the tour operators to Nepal from different continents and holding an effective interaction, which is the need of the hour.
Around 25 NATTA Member company participated in the program.
It was evident that the world is sympathetic towards Nepal. However, the recovery of the tourism industry is entirely dependent on pragmatic actions of its leaders, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders. Nepal has no choice but to focus on tourism in order to turn its sorrow into a stepping stone for sustainable development of the nation.