Nepal banks on fam trips for tourism recovery

KATHMANDU, Aug 11:

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), tourism related organizations, airlines and travel companies are organizing series of familiarization (fam) tips for representatives of international media outlets and tour operators to tell potential tourists that Nepal is safe and recovering fast.

NTB so far has organized three fam trips for Indian media and tour operators to reposition Nepal's tourism image tarnished by coverage of Nepal's disaster and destruction covered by different Indian media outlets.

Sunil Sharma, officiating director of Public Relations and Publicity Department of NTB, said they have already brought in two groups of 18 each and a group of three media representatives and tour operators.

NTB, in association with other tourism related organizations and tour operators, is planning to organize at least seven to eight such trips this year.

"We are prioritizing fam trips as they are the most effective medium for promotion of Nepal and the best way to disseminate authentic message," Sharma said.

NTB has set aside around Rs 25 million for the purpose of organizing fam trips.

Travel and tour operators say fam trips offer journalists and tour operators a chance to experience the situation and get first hand information of any destination which helps a lot in tourism promotion. While journalists can spread news about the situation in that destination, tour operators can build the confidence of potential travelers. This can help to bring more tourists, they say.

With a theme of 'Building Better Tourism with Renewed Strength', Nepal Association of Tour and Travel agents (NATTA), on the occasion of its 20th general convention, is also organizing fam trip for around 50 international journalists, tour operators and heads of tourism associations from different countries.

DB Limbu, president of NATTA, said South Asia Tourism Federation (SATF) will also hold its meeting in Kathmandu on the convention day i.e. September 25. "For the fam trip of six nights and seven days, we will be taking journalists and tour operators to major tourist destinations like Chitwan and Pokhara as well as other places of interest in the Kathmandu Valley so that they can get first hand information of these destinations and promote Nepal in the international market," said Limbu.

Similarly, Turkish Airlines in cooperation with Royal Mountain Travels recently organized a seven-day fam trip for journalist and tour operators from different European countries. The organizers said the participating journalists and tour operators have expressed commitment to spread the message that Nepal is safe to visit.

"Fam trips are usually organized in close coordination with embassies and on sharing basis with different stakeholders like airlines, hotels, and travel agencies contributing for it. We will organize such trips for major markets like Europe, USA, Asia and Australia, among others, as soon as the monsoon ends," said Ramesh Kumar Adhikari, administrative chief of NTB, said, adding that they have received proposals from 10 groups to organize fam trips.

Source: Republica