Domestic tourism promotion will get priority in 2016

Deepak Raj Joshi is the newly appointed CEO of NTB. He was appointed to the post on December 17. The post was lying vacant since Prachanda Man Shrestha retired from the post on October 31, 2011.

Kriti Bhuju of Republica sat with a conversation with Joshi to know about his plans for the revival of tourism industry. Excerpts:

You been appointed CEO of NTB at a time when the country's tourism industry is passing through difficult days? What will be your main priority?

The confidence of tourism sector has remained very low after the earthquake. My first challenge is to boost their confidence for which I will be working closely with the private sector which is the backbone of our industry. The year 2016 is not only about revival of the industry but also about survival. Hence, we need to go for some aggressive marketing and promotion in some major markets. For 2017, I will be focusing on revival of the industry to the earlier benchmark of 800,000 tourists annually. Similarly, reinvigoration for transforming financial and service operations in 2018, and building back better in 2019 will be my main priority.

Besides, I will be focusing on newer markets Russia like. Around 30 million Russians travel to Turkey annually. At present their relation is not that good. Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan are the markets we need to target tactically, besides India and China, where outbound is growing.

Tourism entrepreneurs say bookings for spring 2016 are very low compared to 2015. Do you think tourism can be taken back to the earlier benchmark within 2016?

We can come close to meeting the earlier benchmark if things are not disturbed like the current situation, supply system is smooth, and political disturbances are less. However, we have to launch aggressive marketing campaign in China, India and South East Asian countries like Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia. The recent decision to waive visa fee for Chinese tourists will help a lot in faster recovery of tourism.

NTB will also target millennial generation - those who were born in the early 1980s to 2000s. They are young, speak good English and travel a lot.

We will also mobilize both traditional media and social media -- the cost effective medium -- for the promotion of Nepal's tourism across the globe. We will be making a very strong and efficient team for IT and social media mobilization. Our website welcomenepal.com is not functioning at present. But our new site will be up and running within a month. Right now, we have nepalnow.org which is the official site for customer engagement, providing tourism related updates as a campaign for the revival of tourism industry and will run for a year. It will be later merged into our main website.

There is a dispute between Trekking agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) and NTB regarding Trekking Information Management System (TIMS) disbursement of TIMS fund. What is the actual problem and when will it be solved?

I have heard that there are some legal and audit issues. But I am yet to conduct a detailed study on the issue. I will put it in high priority and resolve the problem soon. We cannot create good impact if there is any conflict. We need to work together with private sector and different travel trade associations.

One needs a strong team to implement his/her programs. But more than 50 percent of posts at NTB are lying vacant. What about filling these posts?

There are some legal issues that have to be sorted out before filling the vacant posts. We have a small team. We have 62 posts as per our organizational structure, but we are only 30 in the team at present. We need to hire some experts as well for branding, media mobilization and for effective promotion. I am committed to fulfill the vacant posts within six months.

What will be your plan for international marketing and promotion?

NTB has adopting traditional approach like participating in travel trade fair and marts, and bringing media on fam trips. We need to go beyond that and do something which is impact-oriented. I am trying to approach Non-Resident Nepalese Association (NRNA) as it has presence in more than 70 countries. We need to forge partnership and synergize our effort.

We will also make a mobile application as human beings have become phono sapiens. NTB will also hire an expert for social media mobilization.

What are the immediate changes that one can feel at NTB within six months?

Better service delivery, good partnership with private sector, and boosting confidence of the industry which will result in positive changes in terms of arrival, are something that one can feel immediately.

From the lessons that we have learnt, my top priority will be to ensure transparency, and promoting healthy competition and honesty in delivery. I also want to assure one and all that whatever I do will be for larger interest of the industry.

I will also work to educate key stakeholders that tourism is a business phenomenon and be taken only those areas where one can get return of their investment. Similarly, increased movement of domestic tourists can help in revival of tourism industry in destinations outside the Kathmandu Valley. Realizing this fact, I will put promotion of domestic tourism in high priority in 2016.

We will be also giving priority to R&D, especially for product development and identifying right market and segments.