Kathmandu David M would take care of the Nepali Goliath, a sempiternal gulf between fantastic dream and hard reality in the tourism trade, 'Aloft Marriott' (Pg 6, Jun 8). As the scion of one of the largest hotel brands, he sits in an envious position to spin Nepali tourism on its head. With him looking over his shoulder, his franchisees, local Ritz-Carton, JW Marriott, and a Luxury Collection would offer meraki service to guests, or so they hope, matching the top-dollar rates these hotels intend to charge. The only downside is that all these fantastic hotels will be in the Newar Valley, jostling for breathing space. Still, we hope they will spread across the country as a sign of respect for the country's federalism, which the youth who overturned the political applecart seems to espouse thus far. But, federalism or not, we should have hotels as far as we can see, from Mechi to Mahakali and the Himalayas to the plains. However, going federal does not mean we must immediately embark on planting upscale hotels in Bajhang or Jhapa - we can start some 10 miles away from Thamel. A Ritz-Carlton or a Hilton, Four Seasons, Oriental Mandarin and a Raffles in the Valley rim, like Kakani, would spread upper-crust tourism dollars beyond the Valley without destroying too much nature, comparatively. We are aware of the bitter reality that the Valley ranks among the permanent top ten in the WPI, the World Pollution Index, which could turn off the flow of the upper-crust billionaire tourists that the new mandarins are trying to attract. Hopefully, the exclusive hotels will help improve the environment through the demonstration effect, which is effective in Nepal. The demonstration effect works just as well in the flight of youths out of the country. Another day in Bhaktapur, and a proud former sharecropper informs that his son has left for Perth, this time an IT Nhemafuki. A senior doctor plods all alone at the outskirts of the City of Fine Arts, including powered dust, his wife long dead, and his children in the West. The ultra-luxury hotels will, hopefully, help obviate the youth's exit from Nepal through the ritzy remuneration. There are already some signs of it. The good news is that David's visit heralds two half-full luxury buses of Western tourists, later seen ambling yesterday through the narrow Malla-era alleys in the City of Votaries, where an Agarwal will reportedly put up a JW, good news for the locals, particularly hotel management graduates. A mason asked for our help for an alternative placement for his son, who interned in a hotel restaurant on the eighty floor in Dubai. He grumbled about long hours and low pay at a hotel in Bhaktapur at present. I gave him the news of a bright future at JW in Bhaktapur. 'Let your son slog and upgrade his knowledge about the hotel trade inside out,' I advised the querulous father, adding, 'he can pick up a job from an à la carte menu of the Marriotts in the Himalayas.' I also told him the story of the Swiss goat tender Ritz. I warned him not to push his son back to Dubai, which is in dire straits, 'Dubai flee'.