Minister assures to release TIMS amount soon

Kathmandu, September 6

Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai has said that the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) is holding necessary discussions with the Ministry of Finance to

release the revenue collected from Trekkers’ Information Management Systems (TIMS).

Addressing the 41st annual general meeting (AGM) of Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN), Minister Bhattarai has ensured TAAN members that the revenue collected from TIMS would be released soon.

“I am aware about the revenue collected from TIMS and TAAN has an equal right to the collected amount,” he said. “We have a precise modality for the distribution and utilisation of TIMS amount. Based on that, the amount will be released soon,” he added.

The minister also assured to sort out the controversies that have been raised in the name of TIMS amount.

The government had introduced a policy on TIMS with an aim to set up an authentic database of trekkers. The collected revenue from the system is supposed to be utilised for the development of the industry and improvement of destinations. Currently it is being implemented jointly by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and TAAN.

The provision of Trekkers’ Information Management System came into effect on January 1, 2008. Since then, TAAN and NTB started recording trekkers’ details and began issuing TIMS card to trekkers.

Meanwhile, Bhattarai has further urged trekking entrepreneurs to promote Nepal positively in the international market. “No matter what the current status of our country we must not promote anything negatively at least in front of foreigners,” he said. “Indeed there are lots of problems to be sorted out and I believe that internal issues should be sorted out through internal discussions.”

He also urged the gathering not to write or update anything on social media that might harm the image of the country. “The government alone cannot do anything without coordinating with the private sector. If you have any issue, let’s sit together and solve it,” he added.

As the Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign is nearing, the minister requested everybody not to do anything that may affect the campaign.

Amidst this, the minister also announced that the Tourism Satellite Account would be unveiled soon and GPS tracking system on tourist vehicles would be introduced without delay for the security of tourists.