Inaugurating the event, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav said the government was positive about introducing new tourism product that would lengthen average stay of tourists and attract more visitors. [break]
“We are working as per the public-private-partnership model for the development of tourism sector in Nepal and Nepal Tourism Year (2011) program is one of the best examples of it,” he added.
Around 130 high-level delegates from 30 countries are participating in the three-day event.
Speaking at the inaugural session, IHRA President Dr Ghassan Aidi said hospitality industry is one of the major contributors in the global economy providing employment to different level of people. “More than 3,000 new hotels are opened across the world annually and each hotel is generating about 100 jobs,” he added. He appreciated the decision to reduce VAT for hospitality sector to one-digit in some countries.
Fredric Pierret, executive director of United Nations World Trade Organization (UNWTO), said tourism growth is positive globally and that forecasts for coming years are promising.
Nepali officials are hopeful that the event will be able to attract foreign investment in hospitality sector. Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) is hosting the event after a gap of 26 years.
The event will feature discussion on various tourism related topics like redefining excellence in standards for the hospitality industry, new trend in hospitality, climate change and Nepal tourism investment realities and others on Tuesday.
IHRA is a global business organization representing world´s hospitality industry. The association comprises of around 300,000 hotels and 8 million restaurants under its umbrella. It contributes $950 million a year to the global economy.
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