Big Ideas work
positively in tourism
Mr. Renton de Alwis, Chairman of Sri-Lankan Tourism
Authority making a special presentation on "Tourism
marketing- problems and challenges ahead", on February
29, 2008 stressed the need for aggressive marketing of
Nepali tourism products in an international arena. A
presentation cum interaction program was organized in
the premises of Nepal Tourism Board on the advent of
designating special tourism campaign slated for 2010. In
a reference to "Visit Nepal Year 1998"(VNY 98) Mr. Alwis
said "Sri-Lanka could manage to organize Visit Sri-Lanka
Year a year before only". He said the best practices of
VNY 98 would be instrumental in making forthcoming
tourism campaign a success.
The Government of Nepal, Nepal Tourism Board and the
private sector tourism industry of Nepal are working
hard to effectively market Nepal in the changed scenario
with new marketing strategy to repositioning the image
of the country as a prime tourism destination. Mr. Alwis
having already worked in Nepal for two years as an
Technical Advisor to UNDP-Project for Quality Tourism,
has fair knowledge about tourism issues of Nepal. He
during interaction said the situation in Nepal is far
good than Sri-Lanka, which is reeling under the shadow
of terrorism. Mr. Alwis asked tourism fraternity to be
aware of the fact that managing growth is more arduous
than gaining growth. He emphasized in working in big
ideas in tourism which, in his opinion, could create a
huge international marketing needed for a destination.
In a program participated by the honchos of tourism
fraternity, Mr. Prachanda M. Sherstha, CEO, NTB welcomed
Mr. Alwis and hoped to work further together. Hon'ble
Minister for Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation, Mr.
Prithvi Subba Gurung was the gues of honor of the
program. Mr. Leela Mani Poudyal, Secretary of Ministry
of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation thanking for the
generous participation from tourism entrepreneurs and
academicians said all the suggestions made during the
program would seriously be taken for future plans.
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Tourist arrivals soar
up by 12.9%
The beginning of the New Year 2008 has heralded an
optimistic tourism growth in Nepal in 2008. The data
released by Immigration Office, TIA shows that arrivals
in January has grown by 12.9 %, up by 2985 compared to
the same month last year.
Although decline in the arrivals from India (-12.2%) and
Sri Lanka (-12.5%) have dragged down the total arrivals
from SAARC region by 7 %, the European and North
American markets have registered robust growth of 33.1 %
and 34.3 % respectively. China (96.8%), S. Korea (5.1%),
Thailand (23.2 %) and Malaysia (12.1 %) have posted a
remarkable growth. It is very notable that contribution
of S. Korean market in the total arrivals has come to be
very significant. It has contributed more than 10 % in
the total arrivals and; it is due to direct flight
between Kathmandu and Seoul. The Japanese market is down
by 15.3 % which could be due to irregular air service of
national flag carrier, NAC, to Japan.
All the European markets have shown positive growth this
month, except Austria (-7.5%). The UK (33.9 %), France
(78.5 %), Germany (4.5 %), Spain (28.5 %), and
Netherlands (36.5 %) have recorded a significant growth
showing increased consumer confidence towards the
destination.
It is expected that more tourists will travel to Nepal
in days to come because of easy accessibility from long
haul destinations and forthcoming tourist season.
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Nepal's first time participation in
Nordic Travel Fair MATKA 2008
Nepal Tourism Board along with four Nepalese private
travel companies namely Mountain Adventure Trekking,
Snowland Travel and Tours, Makalu Adventure and Sahara
Worldwide Travels and Tours actively participated for
the first time in Nordic Travel Fair Matka 2008, the
biggest travel event in Nordic and Baltic region, held
from January 17 to 20, 2008 in Helsinki, Finland.
Inaugurated by Dr. Paavo Vayrynen, Minister for Foreign
Trade and Development, Government of Finland, the fair
had good response from the tour operators and
professionals on the first day specially those from
nearby Estonia and St. Petersberg. The next three days
were aimed at consumers, considering the trend of the
Finnish travelers who normally shop around for the
holiday destinations during winter. There were 1,100
exhibitors from 77 countries occupying the space of
16,000 sq. meters. Visited by 9178 tour operators and
85000 consumers, the fair showed an encouraging prospect
of Nepalese tourism in Finnish as well as North European
market.
A long feature article on Himalayas of Nepal and
cultural heritage in the MATKA issue of Panorama
magazine, written and edited by Mr. Reijo Harkonen,
Honorary PRR for NTB, fetched good interest from quite a
number of visitors in the Fair. In addition to that,
another beautiful article published in "Helsingin
Sanomat"- popular daily newspaper with the circulation
of 450,000 - on the third day of the fair, January 19,
2008 about Annapurna trekking made the visitors even
more curious about Nepal in general and trekking in
particular. Inquiries about Nepal by the visitors were
tremendous. According to the response of the visitors,
they seemed more interested in trekking. Yet, other
natural and cultural products have not lost any charm
among the Finnish people.
There are more than 10 Nepalese Restaurants, very much
well known among the locals, in Helsinki. Their
observation about the Finnish people's interest about
Nepal shows a great hope and prospect of the growth of
Nepalese tourism in Finland. In fact, they can be very
good platforms to increase the awareness about Nepal's
diverse tourism attractions. The active Nepali diaspora
in Finland have played a significant role in generating
public awareness about Nepal and cultivating interests
in them to visit Nepal.
Finland's national carrier Finn Air has published
special fares for Helsinki/Delhi & Helsinki/Mumbai
sectors for MATKA 2008 making it "Fast & Easy" travel to
Nepal as well. Very soon they are going to come out with
a special Pro Rata basis fare for Helsinki/KTM via
Delhi. This definitely is a positive sign that supports
NTB's first ever participation in Finland along with the
Nepalese travel trade.
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