Kathmandu, May 26:

The ministry of culture, tourism and civil aviation (MoCTCA) is to table a proposal to acquire additional aircrafts for the ailing national flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in the budget for the next fiscal year.

The ministry is finalising a proposal seeking adequate budget to acquire additional aircrafts for NAC as well as for the construction of regional airports, said Prithvi Subba Gurung, minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation.

He was addressing the 38th annual general meeting of Hotel Association - Nepal (HAN), yesterday.

He also admitted that Nepali tourism sector has been suffering due to lack of better air connectivity and poor performance of the national flag carrier, NAC.

“It calls for more homework from the side of the government to reap more benefits from the tourism industry,” minister Gurung said.

Prakash Shrestha, president of HAN said that the Nepali tourism is yet to recover from the trauma of decade long armed conflict and political instability in the country.

“Although we saw a light at the tunnels end after the establishment of Loktantra; strikes, Tarai unrest and many other forms of protest and disturbances have once again started to bleed the tourism industry blue,” he said.

Shrestha asked the government to provide compensation for the losses they have incurred and called for an equal status for the tourism industry at par with other industries.

Prasidha Bahadur Pandey, first vice-president of Hotel Association - Nepal, Dipendra Purush Dhakal, former tourism secretary and Ajay Ratna Sthapit, general secretary of Hotel Association - Nepal also expressed their views on the occasion.