The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) celebrated 39th World Tourism Day on September 27 at Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, as per the UNWTO theme of “Tourism and Digital Transformation” amidst a large gathering from the tourism industry.
At the program, Honorable Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Mr. Rabindra Adhikari launched the Tourism Development through Digital Transformation campaign that aims to train key personnel in the service industry in digital marketing in 20 tourism potential destinations of Nepal.
The campaign is the first step towards an ongoing process to orient the tourism service industry in different parts of Nepal on the importance of digital marketing to facilitate tourists’ information access on Nepal , increase call to action, thereby, increasing tourist arrival numbers to achieve 2 million in Nepal for 2020.
During the program, Honorable Tourism Minister also stressed on the importance of mainstreaming digital communication in tourism through digitization of tourism promotion and services for product diversification and sustainable tourism development. Honorable Minister also touched upon commitment of the Government of Nepal towards tourism, and said all efforts are being made to overcome the air capacity bottleneck by speeding up airport constructions and upgrading and strengthening the National Flag Carrier.
Similarly, Honorable State Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Mr. Dhan Bahadur Buda also spoke on the importance of digital promotion in this day and era. Secretary of MoCTCA and Chairman of NTB Mr. Krishna Prasad Devkota was also present during the occasion.
At the program, Chief Executive Officer of NTB Mr. Deepak Raj Joshi focused on the need for digital transformation in the tourism industry, for better promotion and services to reach the target market with accuracy and precision. Focusing on the growing role of digital, Mr. Joshi threw light on the new initiatives of NTB for digital marketing and promotion. The program also saw launching of the #UdhyamiMe, a tourism seed campaign to encourage budding entrepreneurs towards innovation and creativity in business related ideas in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry.
At the program, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Nepal Airlines (NAC), and Jet Airways, were awarded by Honorable Tourism Minister for their contribution in the tourism revenue generation , while Sashwatdham in Nawalparasi was awarded for its pioneering role as a model pilgrimage destination. Winner of the Visit Nepal 2020 logo competition Mr. Uddhav Raj Rimal was also recognized and awarded with cash prize of NPR 100,000 at the program. As a part of product diversification and village tourism development three rural destinations, Murma in Mugu near Rara, Doramba in Ramechhap, and Rainaskot in Lamjung, were also recognized as Destination Villages for the current year.
The program was attended by representatives from the government and private sector including top officials of the service industry, hotels, airlines, tourism associations, and media.
