Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, May 2:

Two separate documents on pro-poor tourism policy and national tourism strategic plan were handed over to Lava Kumar Devkota, secretary at the ministry of industry, tourism civil aviation by Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme (TRPAP) here. The policies — prepared by the TRPAP, for the ministry of culture, tourism and civil aviation — is expected to benefit in planning and implementation of pro-poor tourism activities in Nepal. According to the report, the tourism strategic plan including the policy document will guide the policy makers and tourism industry in Nepal to consolidate the strengths, increase quality and focus in the primary markets. The plan is likely to focus on the quality products, services, professionalism, accountability and marketing. Considering the vital nature of the structure of the travel industry, the policy suggests to form an apex or umbrella body to represent the whole industry, states the study. TRPAP’s Peter Nizette had prepared both the reports.

The tourism strategic plan has also incorporated the current key issues of the tenth five-year plan. Moreover, it has also given special focus in reducing the financial leakages and has emphasised more on qualitative rather than quantitative tourism.

The plan has also analysed the strong features of Nepali tourism industry and has clearly recommended how to improve the quality of tourism sites and services and how to reinforce the implementation part of the pro-poor tourism policy, according to the document. Member of the National Planning Commission Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada spoke about the importance of such reports for sustainable tourism development and expressed his commitment to carry out necessary coordination among the different ministries for the successful implementation.