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नेपाल वायु सेवा निगममा मुक्ति पाण्डे

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नेपाल वायु सेवा निगममा मुक्ति पाण्डे

Mukti Pandey

सरकारी ध्वजावाहक नेपाल वायु सेवा निगमको सञ्चालक समितिमा तीन जना नियुक्त भएका छन् ।

पर्यटन मन्त्रालयले मंगलबार पर्यटन व्यवसायीहरु मुक्ति पाण्डे, पवित्रकुमार कार्की र निमा नोरु शेर्पालाई निगम संचालक समितिको सदस्यमा नियुक्त गरेको हो ।

नवनियुक्त अर्का सदस्य मुक्तिराम पाण्डे सम्राट ट्राभल्सका सञ्चालक तथा नेपाल पर्यटन बोर्डका सदस्यसमेत हुन् ।   पर्यटन व्यवसायीमा लामो अनुभव भएका पाण्डे यसअघि नेपाल पर्यटन बोर्डको सदस्य थिए । मेगा बैंकका संचालक समितिका सदस्य भइसकेका पाण्डे अहिले टुरिजम डेभलपमेन्ट बैंकका संचालक समिति सदस्य पनि छन् । वित्तीय क्षेत्रको समेत राम्रो दख्खल राख्ने पाण्डे प्रतिष्ठित पर्यटन व्यवसायीका रुपमा परिचित छन् ।

 

 

TIMS Counter opened in Thamel

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TIMS Counter opened in Thamel

Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) has opened Trekkers’ Information Management System (TIMS) Counter in Manang Plaza, Thamel.

Taan

Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) has opened Trekkers’ Information Management System (TIMS) Counter in Manang Plaza, Thamel.


Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Suresh Man Shrestha inaugurated the new counter amid a function on Tuesday morning.
TAAN believes the new counter will save time as trekking agencies and foreigners can get TIMS cards in Thamel – the tourist hotspot in Kathmandu Valley – itself. The counter will open from 7 am till 6 in the evening and from 10 am till 1 pm on public holidays. Now onwards, foreign trekkers — both FITs and those travelling in groups — can get TIMS card from the counter.

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TIMS Counter opened in Thamel


Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Secretary Shrestha said the new counter will facilitate foreign trekkers. “I would like to thank and congratulate TAAN for taking initiative for improving service delivery for foreign tourists,” Shrestha said, adding, “The government is a mere facilitator, private sector has to take necessary initiatives for tourism development.”
Secretary Shrestha also promised TAAN all possible support to make TIMS more effective. He also said the government was mulling over introducing TIMS to other trekking areas of the country.
At present, TIMS has been implemented in three major trekking areas of the country – Everest Region, Langtang Region and the Annapurna Region. Foreigners travelling in groups have to pay a fee of US$ 10 each for TIMS card, while FITs need to pay $20 each. Similarly, FITs and group trekkers from SAARC countries are required to pay $6 and $3, respectively.

TIMS-Counter-opened-in-Thamel

Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) has opened Trekkers’ Information Management System (TIMS) Counter in Manang Plaza, Thamel.


TAAN President Ramesh Prasad Dhamala said TAAN would work with the government to make TIMS more effective and transparent. He also requested Secretary Shrestha to implement TIMS in other trekking areas of the country.
On the occasion, Deepak Mahat, former president of TAAN, said TIMS was necessary to discourage illegal operation of trekking business by different individuals and groups. Similarly, TAAN General Secretary Sagar Pandey apprised Secretary Shrestha of the difficulties that TAAN has been facing in TIMS implementation.

Nepal, Sri Lanka set to revive direct air link

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Nepal, Sri Lanka set to revive direct air link

The relationship between Sri Lanka and Nepal may strengthen once the two nations resume direct air travel service between Colombo and Kathmandu early next year.

buddhist-monks-lumbini

Buddhists monks pray outside the Maya Devi temple in Lumbini, Nepal, the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.Nepal and Sri Lanka are set to re-establish direct air service, making it easier for Sri Lankan Buddhists to visit the holy site. [Prakash Mathema/AFP]

The two countries signed an Air Service Agreement (ASA) to establish direct service between their two capital cities in 2009, and it is projected to become reality in March 2015. “Mihin Lanka airline is set to start direct flight from Colombo to Kathmandu starting March. All necessary preparations have already been made to this effect,” Sri Lankan Ambassador W. M. Senevirathna told Khabar South Asia.

Sri Lanka’s other state-owned airline, Sri Lankan Airlines, will likely begin its own direct service to Kathmandu once it completes renewal of its long-haul fleet, the ambassador said. Mohan Krishna Sapkota, a spokesman at Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, confirmed the arrangement. “We expect this to help boost Nepal’s tourism and bolster friendship between the two countries,” he told Khabar.

Nepal’s national flag carrier — then known as Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation — had weekly direct service from Kathmandu to Colombo until the early 1980s. Escalating domestic terrorism in Sri Lanka and air safety issues in Nepal caused suspension of the service.

Special cultural relations between Nepal and Sri Lanka

As home to Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha , Nepal has special cultural and religious relations with Sri Lanka, where over 70 percent of the population is Buddhist.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board, in 2011, nearly 60,000 Sri Lankan nationals traveled to Nepal – mainly visiting Lumbini. In 2012, nearly 70,000 visited.

“As direct flights between the two countries make travel a lot easier, we expect more Sri Lankan nationals to visit Nepal in coming years,” Ajit Man Tamang of the Lumbini Development Trust told Khabar.

Tamang added that Sri Lankan tourists constitute the largest number of tourists visiting Lumbini, followed by Burmese and Thai.

Source: Khabar South Asia

Private sector to support Tourism Vision 2020

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A meeting of private sector organisations involved in tourism business formed a task force today to support the government’s Tourism Vision 2020.

They will organize a national-level symposium after a month to brainstorm on how to achieve targets set by Tourism Vision 2020, said the statement issued by Hotel Association Nepal (HAN). ntbThe Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has envisioned bringing two million tourists by 2020. The statement further says, “Private sector organizations of the tourism sector will work together to achieve the target.”

Representatives from Hotel Association Nepal (HAN), Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN), Nepal Association of Travel and Tour Agents (NATTA), Pacific Asia Travel Agents (PATA), Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO), and Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) were in the meeting, according to the statement.

“Private sector organizations have also called on government to settle the dispute at Nepal Tourism Board at earliest for successful implementation of Tourism Vision 2020.”

Source: The Himalayantimes

Tourism industry decides to execute Vision 2020

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With the government’s ambitious Vision 2020 campaign to boost annual tourist arrivals to 2 million slowing down, the private sector has joined forces to give it a shot in the arm.

Travel trade associations like Hotel ASSOCIATION Nepal (HAN), Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal, Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Pacific Asia Travel Association, Nepal Association of Tour Operators and Nepal Mountaineering Association forged a pact on Wednesday to pursue the campaign jointly.

The group has also decided to conduct various national level events. A taskforce has been formed under the chairmanship of HAN General Secretary Binayak Shah to set the campaign in motion.

The government had launched Vision 2020 in 2012 with the view of increasing arrivals to 2 million by 2020. The effort has also set an ambitious target to increase EMPLOYMENT in tourism to 1 million. Vision 2020 follows Nepal Tourism Year 2011 that has been described as being a moderately successful campaign for being able to partly restore Nepal’s tourism image damaged by an insurgency that lasted from 1996-2006.

Subsequently, the government announced Visit Lumbini Year 2012, but the campaign failed to attain its goal which critics blamed on lack of adequate preparation. In 1998, the country had conducted a successful tourism campaign named Visit Nepal 1998. Nearly 800,000 tourists visited Nepal last year.

“The Vision 2020 campaign is an important event for Nepal’s tourism, but the government has been conducting the preparations at crawling speed,” said Shah. “In this scenario, we have decided that we need to make early preparations from our side,” he added.

At a time when the country’s tourism promotional body the Nepal Tourism Board has not been able to perform its duties efficiently, the government should be more serious about attaining the goal, Shah said. The tourism board has not been able to name a chief executive officer for the last three years.

Source : Ekantipur

TAAN rescues 77 from Manang

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TAAN rescues 77 from Manang

A rescue team of Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) rescued 77 trekkers from different parts of Manang district on Thursday.

Of the trekkers rescued on Thursday, 17 were Israelis, 29 Nepalis (support staff), 5 Indonesians, 10 Germans, 5 Spanish, 4 Indians, 3 Canadians, 2 Russians, and 2 Polish.
TAAN had deployed two choppers – AS 350 B3 and MI 17 – for rescue works. TAAN executive members Coordinator of Mountaineering Department of TAAN Ang Pemba Sherpa,   and Pasang Tendi Sherpa were in the rescue team. Similarly, TAAN President Ramesh Prasad Dhamala was in Manang to oversee rescue works, while Coordinator of TAAN’s Rescue Department Keshav Pandey coordinated rescue works from Pokhara. Likewise, 1st Vice President Kami Rinji Sherpa, General Secretary Sagar Pandey and Treasurer Gopal Babu Shrestha were at TAAN Secretariat to coordinate rescue works, while executive member Vidya Hirachan was at Tribhuvan International Airport.
Meanwhile, rescue workers have recovered 10 bodies from Phu and Kangla area of Manang.

TAAN-Rescues

TAAN rescues 77 from Manang

TAAN had sent rescue team from land route in the Mustang side of Thorang La Pass. The team brought down five bodies – two Nepalis, two Israelis and one Polish. Similarly, one more body has been brought down to Jomsom. Their identity has yet to be ascertained.
With this the number of deceased in Mustang side has reached 10. Rescue teams had recovered four bodies on Wednesday.
“Rescue team of Nepal Army (NA) has told us that there are eight bodies near Doomcamp below Thorong Pass. We will bring them down tomorrow,” Hari Bhujel, second vice president of TAAN Pokhara Chapter, said from Mustang.
According to Mustang CDO Baburam Adhikari, 64 trekkers from different countries, including Nepali support staff, were rescued from Mustang on Wednesday.

Source: TAAN