PATA meet will help Nepalese tourism

-By A Staff Reporter

 In a bid to discuss eco-tourism issues and to promote tourism industry, Nepal will host the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s (PATA) 12th Adventure and Eco-tourism Conference and Mart in Pokhara from January 28 to 31, 2000.

The Conference and Mart will gather together some three hundred experts from the field of adventure and eco-tourism, PATA Nepal Chapter officials announced here last week. This is the fourth such conference of its kind being organized by PATA Nepal Chapter in Nepal.

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Nepal had hosted the first, second and eighth PATA Adventure Travel and Eco-tourism Conference and Mart in Kathmandu in 1989, 1990 and 1996 respectively.

According to a press release issued at the press meet, the conference will deliberate on the theme “Minimum Impact, Maximum Experience”, while the mart will be purely a business session where the international buyers and sellers will meet in person. Eminent Nepalese scholar and sociologist Dr. Harka Gurung will deliver the Keynote Address on the theme “Minimum Impact, Maximum Experience”.

The theme of the conference is based on the philosophy of minimising impact of tourism while at the same time allowing visitors to maximise their experience while visiting the places of ecological importance. Apart from the important discussion on the ecological issues, the event will also highlight  the promotion of Nepal as a favourite tourists’ destination.

“Since the international buyers of Nepalese tourism products have been invited here, Nepal has a fair chance of selling itself successfully,” Varun Prasad Shrestha, Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation said. Shrestha is also the chairman of a twenty-member host committee that has been formed recently for the conference.

The chairman of the host committee also added that the meet can set a balanced approach towards the promotion of the country’s tourism industry by conserving the ecology and national heritage. 

Addressing the press meet, Ashok Pokharel, chairman, PATA Nepal Chapter and member of the host committee, informed that the event would follow a pattern of one and half days conference followed by one and half days of mart. “The conference will deliberate on how destinations, the local population as well as visitors to sensitive areas around the world can gain maximum experience by exerting minimum impact on their surroundings and environment,” he said.

The mart, however, will be a purely business session during which; tour operators and buyers of adventure products from around the world would be able to meet with suppliers of the products.

The PATA Chief Executive Officer Joseph  McInerney accompanied by top PATA officials based in Bangkok and Singapore are also expected to attend the event.

Suggestions to improve airport security

-By A Staff Reporter

The Independent has learnt from a reliable source that the representatives of airlines representatives in Nepal have made various suggestions to the airport authority for upgrading security at the airport.

The suggestions include, among others, making the passenger check in area sterile, mandatory x-ray screening of all baggage, including hand carriage and such luggage be security strapped and doing away with current practice of security stickers. The passengers should also be screened and frisked for arms and explosive, it said.

The suggestions also include the screening of the transit passengers and their hand luggage and all boarding cards should be stamped by security personnel.

Suggestions for out bound cargo include screening  of all cargo by X-ray machine prior to acceptance by the customs warehouse, the warehouse be accessible to only authorized personnel and the navigational equipment be properly maintained or suitably replaced.

More importantly, they have said there would be a defined chain of command amongst various agencies for smooth operation and accountability.

Similarly, a press release of Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) has called  all tourism entrepreneurs to cooperate with the government and work unitedly to repair the damage caused due to hijacking of the Indian Airlines.

Calling the hijacking and the accident of the Skyline Airways plane as portraying a negative image of Nepali tourism sector, a press release of the Association has urged the government to strengthen all its security and safety measures in the airport and implement more stringent monitoring policies on all the  private and government airline operators. It also hoped all the passengers of the hijacked plane will be safely released.