Managing director Pete Burrell urges the trade not to ignore Himalayan country devastated by earthquake.
Don’t stop selling Nepal – it needs trekkers. That was the heartfelt message to travel agents from Exodus managing director Pete Burrell at a client event in London last night. He said he was “very hopeful” Nepal would be open for business after the monsoon season ends in September and that Exodus would run a full programme of trekking and cycling tours with one exception. “We’re not returning to Langtang village yet because a whole community was near destroyed, and it would be wrong to go back there immediately. But we will go back there in the spring because they need the trekking income.”
The company’s clients have so far donated in excess of £230,000 for the relief effort. Burrell said he was very humbled by the response and the company was determined to use the money wisely: “We do feel a huge responsibility to ensure the money is spent in the most direct way among the people who deserve it.”
He said the adventure tours operator would target Nepalese staff affected by the quake “because they have touched the people who travel with us”.
The first devastating earthquake took place on April 25, hitting 7.9 on the Richter scale. Another followed on May 12, at 7.3, and there have been hundreds of smaller aftershocks. “These are having a deep psychological effect on the Nepalese people,” he said.
The death toll stands at 8,000 with thousands more injured, and 400,000 buildings have collapsed.
Burrell explained there was no point in rebuilding until after the monsoon so phase one of the relief effort was focused on donating tarpaulin and other supplies to give people shelter, food and cooking utensils. “Houses collapsed and possessions were buried.” Phase two will be the rebuild, using local builders, and phase three will support medical camps for remote communities.
Burrell flew to Nepal eight days after the earthquake to support staff and assess the damage. He described the scale of devastation in outlying villages as being like “a war zone – something out of a World War Two movie after a bombing raid”.
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Source: ttgdigital.com
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