Fulbari goes marketing in Mumbai

By A Staff Reporter

The new Millennium saw The Fulbari Resort launching its new marketing office in Mumbai, India, with a gala evening at The Taj Mahal Hotel on Saturday February 05, 2000. The 300-strong VIP invitees represented the glitterati, literati and chatterati of Mumbai who freely intermingled with many Bollywood blockbusters, corporate heads and captains of commerce and industries and Mumbai-based diplomats. The gala evening with cocktail and dinner was held in the Crystal Room of The Taj.

Welcoming the guests, Piyush Bahadur Amatya, Executive Chairman of The Fulbari Resort, exhorted the VIPs to help increase tourism traffic between the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean and the highest mountains of Nepal. He duly emphasied that the luxurious Fulbari Resort has been developed in the scenic Pokhara Valley beneath the Annapurna Range for the discerning 21st century tourists and travelers.

Ms. Manisha Koirala, Nepal’s own beautiful mega actress and blockbuster icon of Bollyhood, co-hosted the launching ceremony. While thanking her for her support and enthusiasm, Amatya referred to her as the shining grand daughter of Nepal’s first democratically elected Prime Minister, B.P. Koirala. Amatya also highlighted Ms. Koirala’s commitment to and involvement in the many activities of global youth forums as well as her crusade for universal safe motherhood.

In her return speech, Manisha Koirala presented her reasoned logic to the assembled audience comprising of the rich and famous of Mumbai as to why they should visit The Fulbari Resort in Pokhara. She also exhorted them to encourage their friends and close ones to do the same.

Manisha Koirala had her own reasons to participate in the Mumbai event. She has often been a guest at The Fulbari Resort. Her last visit was in the last week of December 1999 to participate in the Fulbari’s Jimalennium celebrations to which she brought her two notable Bollywood friends, the great actress Deepti Naval and film director Ashok Pundit.

This time also, for equal measures, Manisha brought her own throng of the top star raters of Bollywood to the Mumbai gala evening. Jackie Shroff, Sunil Shetty, Tabu, Madhu, Gulshan Grover, Firoze Khan, director Jha and many others responded to Manisha’s invitation, and added their own individual and comulative doses of glitz, ritz and glamour to the evening’s high-profile and its charged air and heightened charm.

The marketing launch in Mumbai highlighted many of Nepal’s cultural and scenic vignettes. Folk dances of Nepal were presented along with a multimedia presentation on Pokhara and the Fulbari Resort. Drawing of attractive door pries, which included round trip tickets to and Pokhara and stay at The Fulbari Resort for the lucky winners, was another highlight of the cocktail and dinner.

The General Manager of The Fulbari Resort, Bruce Moore, and Subodh Thapa, Director Sales & Marketing, accompanied Amatya to the Mumbai launch. Prarob Mokaves, Special Advisor to Amatya, was also present at the event.

Besides Mumbai, The Fulbari Resort already operates marketing offices in Kolkata (Calcutta) and New Delhi in India, and Bangkok in Thailand. Plans are also afoot to launch its marketing offices in Ahmedabad in India, San Francisco, USA, and Osaka and Tokyo in Japan.

Make trekking eco-friendly

By A Staff Reporter

Tourism is one of the major foreign currency earners for Nepal. Of all the activities related to the Nepalese tourism industry, trekking is one of the major contributors to the national economy.

Trekking alone provided direct and indirect employment to almost 300 thousand people in Nepal in the year 1999, officials of Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN) informed at the fourth TAAN National Eco-Trekking Workshop, which started in Kathmandu on Monday. Last year, more than 100 thousand tourists from around the world visited Nepal for trekking in the different region of the country.

But this very activity needs protection, the participants at the workshop highlighted. “Though trekking is a major contributor to the national economy, it needs strong protection from the government and the private sector,” said Rajendra Bantawa, President of TAAN.

Addressing the same function, Varun Prasad Sharam, Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation urged that the environment and culture should be protected for the sustainable development of the tourism industry in the country. He stressed in balancing between the trekking activities and the environment.

“As economy, environment and social sectors are inter-linked, nature should be properly utilized to promote rural tourism that will ultimately share benefits with the poor segements of the society,” he said.

The two-day workshop is believed to provide an opportunity to learn more about  how environment and culture can be protected for further flourishing trekking activities in the country. It was targeted to teach trekking guides, trekking managers, cooks, and other field staffs of the Nepalese trekking industry on more safety and eco-friendly means of trekkings.

Beside shedding light on the importance of health and hygiene of the trekkers, the workshop also helps the participants to realize the importance of alternative fuel and its relation with environment during trekking to various regions of the country.

Almost 150 people representing various trekking industries and local communities on the different trekking routes are participating in the workshop. Other participants include President of Travel Agents Association of Sikkim Yashi Dorje.

Everest Travel Service

By A Staff Reporter

Following the suspension of Indian Airlines flight to Kathmandu resulting from the plane hijack episode, negative impact has been felt in tourist traffic as well as in Freight Forwarding business. Former President of Nepal Association of Travel Agents (NATA) Rabindra Man Singh has said that the organisations/associations related with this trade as well as the government departments should create an atmosphere for prompt resumption of Indian Airlines flights.

It has been now 48 days that the Indian Airlines has suspended Kathmandu/New Delhi, Calcutta and Banaras flights. Please note that the Indian Airlines flight IC-814 bound for New Delhi was hijacked on 24 December, 1999. The suspension of the flights has resulted in the loss of 35,000 passengers and 350 tons of cargoes. The tourism industry as well as the government has had to bear the losses of millions of rupees in terms of revenue. This incident has also affected negatively  the country’s image.

Fulbari Resort's networking spreads in South India

By A Staff Reporter

The very first outcome of The Fulbari Resort’s launch of its marketing office in Mumbai on Saturday February 5, 2000 was the uprecedented alliance struck between The Fulbari Resort and The Global Group of South India.

The Global Group’s flagship, JTB Travels, along with Continental Air Services, is engaged in travel and tourism activities for the last 25 years. Slated to celebrate its silver jubilee in July 2000, JTB Travels has been promoting domestic, inbound and outbound tour pakcages in, from and to India. The two companies are GSAs, Cargo GSAs and PSAs for 11 international airlines in India.

JTB operates outbound tours, including tailor-made specialisation in FITS, GITS and Incentives, to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Mauritius, Dubai, Isreal, Egypt, Europe, Nepal, South East Asia, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Among others, JTB represents Japan Rail Pass and its subsidiaries, Star Cruises, European Telecards, and Green Line  Tours Bus Services for Nepal. JTB is actively associated with 28 international tour operators. The company is also the consolidator for the 33 hotels under the wings of ITDC (Indian Tourism Development Corporation).

With its corporate headquarters in Mumbai, The Global Group has offices in 12 metropolitan cities of India.

The Fulbari Resort has been developed in the scenic Pokhara Valley of West Nepal by Piyush Bahadur Amatya, a noted businessman and industry leader of Nepal. An independently owned property, The Fulbari Resort is the first and the only property licensed by the Ministry of Tourism & Civil Aviation of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal as a “5-Star Deluxe Resort Hotel”. The property is also the first and the only one of its kind in Nepal, outside Kathmandu, and in Pokhara.

In the immediate aftermath of declaring their business alliance, both H.K. Vithalani-Group Chairman of The Global Group and JTB Travels - and Piyush Bahadur Amatya - Executive Chairiman of The Fulbari Limited - inssued their joint statement. In their declaration, both business leaders vouchsafed for their joint efforts to bring the two corporate houses of Nepal and India to newer heights of mutual and reciprocal benefits.

As The Fulbari Resort’s GSA in South India, The Global Group and JTB Travels stand poised to generate international-standard luxury and upscale clientele and event organisers to The Fulbari Resort in Pokhara, Nepal, from their Indian sources as well as their global power points.