KATHMANDU: The 41st general meeting of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal chapter has elected Sunil Shakya as its new working committee president.

Similarly, Suman Pandey has been elected the immediate-past president, Nepal Tourism Board CEO Deepak Raj Joshi the first vice-president, Nepal Airlines Corporation's Corporate Director Janak Raj Kalakheti the vice-president, Bibhuti Chandra Thakur the general secretary and Shiva Prasad Dhakal the treasurer of the new working committee. They were all elected unopposed.

Nepal Tourism Board, the Department of Tourism, Nepal Airlines Corporation and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) are the ex-officio members of the PATA Nepal chapter while seven additional members have been elected from the private sector, PATA Nepal chapter stated in a press release on Thursday.

The newly-elected president Shakya said a new vibe would be created in the country's tourism sector through public-private partnership provided that the next government paid attention to policy level reforms in the tourism sector.

The general assembly with the theme "Vision Five Million Tourists" has decided to formulate a master plan of bringing in five million tourists in Nepal by 2030 in line with the UN's Tourism Millennium Development Goals, PATA Nepal chapter CEO Suresh Singh Budal said.

Meanwhile, PATA Nepal chapter has honoured tourism entrepreneur and writer Karna Shakya with the 'Personality Award-2017'. The award is presented to one tourism entrepreneur making special contribution to promoting tourism in Nepal.