Hotel Association of Nepal AGM: Govt will focus on increasing visitors length of stay: PM
KATHMANDU, FEB 11 -
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Friday said the government would focus on increasing the length of stay of tourists amid rising arrivals.
In a bid to encourage private sector investments in tourism, the government is planning to extend incentives to hoteliers, the Prime Minister said, inaugurating the 41st Annual General Meeting of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). He added that the government was committed to expanding the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)’s fleet and developing infrastructure for the aviation sector.
Amid the private sector’s concern about increasing labour unrest in the hospitality sector, Bhattarai said the government would take measures to ensure create cordial relationship between workers and employers.
Radhesh Pant, chief executive officer of the Investment Board, presenting his keynote address titled ‘Tourism Development for Investment and Employment’, said the tourism industry saw investments worth Rs 11 billion in 2011—4 percent of the total investment made in the country in the year. Investment in tourism is expected to increase to Rs 20 billion by 2021, according to Pant.
Pant said the tourism sector is expected to create 1.1 million new jobs by 2021. In 2011, the sector provided direct employment to 300,000 individuals and its direct contribution in the country’s GDP stood at 3.2 percent or Rs 59.4 billion. Foreign currency earnings from the sector in 2010-11 stood at Rs 15 billion, against Rs 11.7 billion in 2001-01. “Therefore, there is a need for cooperation between the private sector and the government to attract investment in tourism,” Pant said. HAN’s outgoing President Prasiddha Bahadur Pandey said frequent labour problems were one of the main obstacles to the growth of the country’s investment sector, especially hotel.
According to Pandey, Rs 150 billion has so far been invested in the hospitality sector, which has generated 300,000 jobs. “The government has repeatedly been calling domestic and foreign investors to put more money in the sector, but labour-related issues have discouraged investors,” Pandey said, adding that the government should come up with more effective plans and policies to promote the hospitality sector. On the hotel industry’s demand for a separate labour Act and bringing the sector under the Essential Service Act, Pandey said, “Political parties must take the issue seriously and help create more investor-friendly climate.”
BK Shrestha, first Vice-president of HAN, welcomed the government’s move of forming a powerful committee to give tourism the status of the national priority industry. “The country’s failure in attracting 1 million tourists in 2011 suggests that we must focus on aggressive promotional activities in the international market,” said Shrestha.
Source: Kantipur
