| TAAN to lead participation in Travel and Adventure Show |
| Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) is coordinating participation of Nepalis trekking agencies and adventure tour operators in the Adventure Travel Show being held on Feb 18 and 19 in San Francisco, USA. TAAN will select a maximum of 10 member agencies for participation in the travel show on first come first serve basis. The participation fee for the expo has been fixed at Rs 90,000 (one representative only), which is non-refundable. Participants will have to bear hotel accommodation, visa fees and all other expenses on their own. Travel and Adventure Show is one of the popular travel and adventure shows in US. It is organized annually in six US cities – Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Wahsington DC and San Francisco. |
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| Nepal’s rafting packages in CNN’s best list |
Cable News Network (CNN) has included Nepal’s white water rafting in its ‘15 ways to see the world on water’ list. CNN is a leading international news broadcaster. Featured in the 9th position in the list, Nepal’s rafting package was published on Nov 23. “Participants in this epic 15-day trip start in Kathmandu, and after acclimatizing to the dizzying altitude, trek for four days through scenic mountain passes from Pokhara to their river drop-off,” CNN writes, adding, “Then you brave high-grade whitewater accompanied by a world-class expert, and camp each night on virgin river banks before reaching the splendor of Chitwan National Park.” Other water trips included in the list are Explore the pristine coves of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), Navigate the Yangtze (China), Break Ice in the Antarctic, Ride Norway’s Coastal Steamer to the Arctic Cicle (Noorway), Cruise the Mekong Delta (Laos), Motor up the Amazon (Brazil), Sail through the Alaskan wilderness (USA), Confront giant tortoises in the Galapagos (Ecuador), Watch whales off the coast of Mexico (USA), Float through the backwaters of Kerala (India), Follow the trail of the pharaohs down the Nile (Egypt), Raft the Zembezi’s white water (Zambia), Kayak from sunset to moonlight in the Florida Keys (USA), and Follow a rare canoe trail through Botswana (Botswana).
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| Hundreds of tourists airlifted from Lukla |
Among thousands of stranded tourists, around 400 were airlifted from Lukla and Surke on Sunday. Helicopter and fixed wing aircraft of private airlines along with a Skytruck of Nepal Army (NA) operated 53 fights from Lukla and Surke.
Out of the total flights, 18 flights were to Lamidanda and remaining to the capital.
It is estimated that there are still around 3,500 people at the Lukla airport who are waiting to be airlifted to Kathmandu. President of Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) Mahendra Singh Thapa said, "Although we don´t have actual figure, there are still 3,500 people stranded at Lukla including more than 2,000 tourists."
Trekking Agents said that they were receiving calls from their clients (tourists) saying that they had started facing problems for food and some of them are sick.
According to Airlines Operation Association of Nepal (AOAN), Air Dynasty operated 18 flights in Surke-Lamidanda sector and three flights in Lamidada-Kathmandu sector.
Mountain Helicopters operated nine flights bringing a total of 48 tourists to the capital. Similarly, Simrik Air which operated 11 flights brought 65 tourists to Kathmandu from Surke.
Agni Air, Sita Air and Tara Air operated one, seven and four flights respectively to Kathmandu and Lamidanda from Lukla airport in the morning when the weather improved for sometime.
However, the scheduled chopper of Nepal Army (NA) couldn´t operate the flight because of bad weather. Mi-17, the biggest chopper in operation in the country, ended up landing in Rumjhatar. NA spokesperson Ramindra Chhetri said, "We were able to bring 18 tourists from Lamidanda to Kathmandu by Skytruck." Mi-17 could not continue its flight to Lukla and it couldn´t make its way back to Kathmandu airport either, he added.
Meanwhile, Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) on Sunday deposited Rs 2 million with NA for carrying out the rescue operation by Mi-17 chopper. TAAN president Mahendra Singh Thapa said, "Apart from bad weather, lengthy bureaucratic formalities are also delaying the rescue operation." He said the tedious formalities were finally completed on Sunday.
TAAN officials said that it may charge a nominal fee from the rescued tourists just enough to pay NA for the use of its chopper for rescue.
Trekking agents are worried that if immediate rescue is not carried out, it might harm the tourism business. Managing Director of Himalayan Expedition Bikram Pandey said, "We have not received any cancellation so far but if tourists continue to suffer, it might send a negative message to the tourist community across the world."
He said that the involvement of the government in the rescue operation will certainly improve the image of the country. "The government should have quickly taken steps and should have sought help from the private sector and humanitarian agencies to speed up the rescue operation," he added.
Tourists along with their guides and porters are stranded in Lukla airport for last seven days after no flight could be conducted from October 31 due to inclement weather.
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| Nepal welcomed record visitors in October |
Nepal welcomed record 73,264 foreign tourists via air in October. According to statistics released by Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Immigration Office, total arrivals in October saw a rise of 16.8 percent when compared to arrival figures of the same period last year. Similarly, total arrivals over the first 10 months of 2011, which is being celebrated as Nepal Tourism Year (NTY), have increased by 21.7 percent to 443,108. Arrivals from China recorded the highest growth of 66.7 percent during the period, followed by India (42.4 percent). A total of 121,962 Indian tourists visited Nepal during the first 10 months of 2011, whereas as the number of Chinese tourists during the period stood at 34,897. Total arrivals from South Asian segment in October showed a positive growth of 19.4 percent, thanks to healthy rise in arrivals from India (26.2 percent) and Pakistan (11.3 percent). However, arrivals from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka declined by 10.2 and 13 percent respectively. Arrivals from South Asia recorded strong growth of 33.7 percent over first ten months of NTY 2011. Asia (other than South Asian region) saw overall increase of 40 percent during the month. Almost all the markets recorded positive growth with China at 105.9 percent, Japan at 7.3 percent, Singapore at 5.7 percent, South Korea at 29.4 percent and Thailand at 23.6 percent. The statistics further shows that European market registered overall positive growth of 15.1 percent during the month. Arrivals from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Israel, Spain, Switzerland and UK increased by 18.2 percent, 48.8 percent, 19.3 percent, 22.5 percent, 88.3 percent, 20.7 percent, 15.8 percent and 7.3 percent respectively. However, arrivals of France and the Netherlands went down by 3.9 and 17.1 percent respectively. Though arrivals from US increased by 5.4 percent, number of visitors from Canada and Australia declined marginally by 0.2 percent each during October.
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| TAAN draws govt attention toward hike in menu prices in Khumbu |
A delegation of Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) on Oct 18 met with Hari Basyal, Chief of Tourism Industry Division under the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), and apprised him of the problems facing the trekking sector.
During the meeting, TAAN expressed objection over unilateral hike in menu prices in Khumbu region by Khumbu Hotel Management Committee and Dingboche Hotel Association. “Trekking staff are facing difficulty due to heavy rise in menu prices. If they have to pay such a high price for meal and accommodation, they won’t be able to save anything,” TAAN President Mahindra Singh Thapa said.
The delegation also protested manhandling of some trekking staff by the officials of Khumbu Hotel Management Committee and requested the government to immediately do the needful in addressing the problem.
“Trekking staffers are the ones that take tourists to trekking areas. Who will take tourists there if trekking staff are manhandled?” Thapa wondered.
The delegation also drew the attention of the ministry toward lack of necessary tourism infrastructure at Lukla, which is often referred to as the gateway to the Everest Region.
“Though thousands of tourists enter the Everest region via Lukla every year, the place lacks even basic infrastructure like tourism information center and restrooms,” Thapa added.
Stating that existing TIMS distribution mechanism was encouraging illegal operation in trekking business, the delegation asked the government to review the mechanism and give complete authority in TIMS distribution to TAAN. “I would like to assure all that illegal trekking operation can be discouraged if TAAN is given complete authority in TIMS distribution,” Thapa added.
The delegation comprised of President Thapa, 1st Vice President Rana Bahadur Khadka, General Secretary Mohan Lamsal, Treasurer Anjan Thapa; executive members Pelu Sherpa, Krishna Hari Khatri and Nima Lama and Machhindra Acharya of TAAN Media Center.
TAAN delegation had met with officials of Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation on Oct 17 and apprised them of the problems that trekking staff are facing due to unilateral hike in menu prices by the Khumbu hoteliers.
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