Speaking at a program organized by Incredible Far Western Development Campaign in Kathmandu, Thapaliya said NTB will get a new CEO very soon. "Tourism entrepreneurs have been asking me when NTB will get a new CEO. I want to assure you that the process to appoint new CEO will resume soon," he added.Meanwhile, tourism entrepreneurs have said there is no need for committees like Nepal Tourism Promotion Committee if NTB is strengthened by appointing a new CEO at the earliest. Deepak Mahat, president of Nepal Entrepreneurs' Association for Tourism (NEAT) said, NTPC should be dissolved and NTB be strengthened to work for tourism recovery by focusing on international marketing and promotion. Similarly, Ganesh Simkhada of Nepal Tourism Entrepreneurs Forum (NTEF) also said there was no alternative to expediting the process to appoint new CEO at NTB.
Responding to the private sector, Thapaliya said NTB will spend the budget in areas where tangible output can be achieved rather than fulfilling the demand of different individuals and organizations. "NTB has the huge responsibility of promoting tourism sector. We should develop NTB as an exemplary model of public-private-partnership by amending acts, rules and regulations if need be," he added. "Private sector should play leading role for that."
Similarly, Kishore Khadka, general secretary of the campaign, said that NTB should focus on infrastructure development and promotion of far-western region. He suggested that NTB allocated certain percentage of its annual budget for promotion tourism in the far-western region.
Govinda Bahadur Karkee, director general of Department of Tourism (DoT), termed far-western region is country's tourism treasure trove. "The region holds immense potential to attract both domestic and foreign tourists," he added.
Ramesh Dhamala, president of Trekking agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), said tourism spending should be assessed periodically to ascertain that it is yielding positive results. "Substantial budget has been spent for tourism marketing and promotion in different international market. It is high time we studied the outcomes of such campaigns," he added.
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