Tourism Recovery Task Force launched
KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 26
On the occasion of World Tourism Day, a Tourism Recovery Task Force (TRTF-Nepal) was launched here today.
Addressing the launch ceremony, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai appreciated the private sector for coming together to foster collaborative efforts towards tourism recovery and invited the task force to jointly work with the governments at local, provincial and federal levels.
A domestic tourism promotion campaign #DeshDarshan was also launched by Minister Bhattarai, as per a media release.
During the programme, Secretary of Ministry of Tourism Kedar Bahadur Adhikari launched a training manual of the ‘Empowering Rural Destinations’ campaign, which is an initiative by TRTF-Nepal to train and build the capacity of rural destinations with new safety protocols, and food safety and hygiene for community health.
A dedicated website www. trtfnepal.com also went live from today and series of thematic webinars and programmes are in line to support the recovery campaign.
TRTF-Nepal is a joint initiative by PATA Nepal Chapter and SKAL Nepal, which has brought together industry veterans, professionals, and leading global tourism organisations as ‘advisors’, the prominent tourism associations in Nepal as ‘associational patrons’, the key agencies or organisations working in safety and security concerns of travellers as ‘health and safety patrons’ and the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) as ‘industry patron’ to intensify the collective efforts for tourism recovery.
Deepak R Joshi, former CEO of NTB, is the coordinator of the TRTF-Nepal. Khem Lakai, treasurer and HCD-coordinator for PATA Nepal Chapter will be the spokesperson while the secretariat of the task force will be handled by PATA Nepal CEO Suresh Singh Budal.
To kick off its engagement, TRTF-Nepal has conducted a survey on industry’s preparedness to restart tourism, has prepared infographic communication materials about HHS protocols, collecting and compiling information about successful restarting practices adopted by other countries/ destinations.
The task force shall cooperate and align the rational, responsible, progressive, and constructive advocacy with the government and decision-making authorities in tourism on how best Nepal’s tourism sector can adapt with and recover from the COVID-19 crisis. The task force shall coordinate for better collaboration and effective communication with key authorities and organisations, ensuring consistency of messaging with updates in source markets through various channels.
Moreover, the task force shall suggest the plan and possible resources to the government and the private sector tourism stakeholders through different initiatives, webinars and programmes towards the revival of tourism in a more resilient and sustainable manner.
The task force shall also initiate and undertake the promotional campaign about the destinations’ preparedness, updates, and unique offerings to enhance favourable publicity in the respective source markets at the national, regional, and international levels through identified 10 key communication channels.
A version of this article appears in e-paper on September 27, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.
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