The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has formed a 10-member team under the leadership of Joint Secretary Umakanta Parajuli to represent Nepal in the Joint Working Group (JWG) on tourism between Nepal and India.
Tulsi Prasad Sitaula, Director General of Department of Tourism; Nandini Lahe Thapa, officiating CEO of Nepal Tourism Board; Shreejana Rana, Tourism Convener of Nepal India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI); DB Limbu, President of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA); Ramesh Dhamala, President of Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN); and Ashok Pokharel, President of Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) are the members in the group. The group will also have three representatives from MoCTCA. JWG is expected to oversee implementation of agreements related to tourism sector that are included in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that Nepal and India signed on the sidelines of the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in November last.
The first meeting of the JWG is scheduled to be held on 19th week of February in New Delhi. In the meeting, the Nepali team will propose to take joint initiatives for tourism promotion in respective countries as per the MoU.
The MoU, among others, aims to expand bilateral cooperation in tourism sector, facilitate exchange of information and data related to tourism, encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders, establish exchange program for cooperation in human resources development, increase investment in tourism and hospitality sector, exchange of experience in the areas of promotion, marketing, destination development and management, and promote sustainable tourism, among others. The meeting of JWG will take place every two years.
According to NICCI, JWG will also work to simplify procedures and policies for third-party payment collections as well as transfers between India and Nepal and create a Nepal-India Tourism Forum for discussing bilateral tourism issues.
JWG will also coordinate to hold B2B mart for international travel operators to jointly promote tourism attractions in both the countries and explore the possibility of launching joint promotional campaigns in the international market.
