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Kathmandu Tuesday December 25, 2001 Paush 10, 2058.
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Special packages to revive tourism; RNAC to
provide subsidised fares
By Satyendra Timilsina
KATHMANDU, Dec 24 – With the number of tourists coming
to this Himalayan Kingdom reaching the lowest in last three years, tourism entrepreneurs
here are now all set to announce special packages in a fresh bid to revive Nepal’s
tourism.
The package, to be introduced in a few days time, would be a
three-day to 14-day package. And the Royal Nepal Airline, the national flag carrier, is
supporting the package to be introduced by the private sector.
With the private sector showing new enthusiasm, the
government too is planning to provide subsidised fare of RNAC’s for the programme, a
highly placed source at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation told The
Kathmandu Post.
The Ministry official also informed that the government is
preparing to waive the visa fee to the travellers coming here on a three-day package.
"The government would also reduce other visa fees by around 50 percent," he
added.
Birendra Bahadur Deuja, secretary at the Ministry, indicated
towards the relief package of the RNAC. "We will support the new scheme proposed by
the tourism entrepreneurs."
Under the new scheme, visitors would be provided a two-way
airline ticket, accommodation, all meals and limited sight seeing tour in a heavily
subsidised package to the passengers coming in RNAC flights. However, the package would
not include the fare for the mountain flights.
"We will first introduce this package to the passengers
flying RNAC flights from Bombay and Bangalore," said Mohan Prasad Khanal, the
chairman of Board of Airlines Representatives of Nepal (BARN). "We are providing a
three-day package at the cost of Rs 28,160, which alone is the present airfare," said
Khanal, who is a marketing director at the Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation.
Narendra Bajracharya, president of Hotel Association of
Nepal, says that the new package is designed with a hope that Nepali tourism industry can
be revived with the joint effort of all the entrepreneurs. "Nepal can compete with
other countries in terms of tourism promotion after the announcement of this
package," he added.
According to latest tourism statistics, there has been a
decline of more than 17 per cent tourists this year compared to the last year. November
alone showed a decline of over 42 per cent. The statistics has shown that there has been a
significant decline in the inflow of Indian tourists, falling to around 18 per cent of
total tourists from more than 33 per cent two years ago.
With the global tourism business taking a dip, several
countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have already introduced special campaigns
to resurrect the tourism sector with their main target being China and India.
Even the tourism entrepreneurs say that their main effort
would be to attract tourists from China and India. The promotion would also be focused on
countries like the United States, Japan and United Kingdom, the major countries sharing
the maximum number of tourist arrivals in Nepal. This new scheme has become possible after
a month long effort from both the private entrepreneurs and government officials.
The private entrepreneurs are also trying to convince the
government on reducing the parking, landing and hangar charges to various international
airlines flying to and from Kathmandu.
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