Tourism entrepreneurs in Pokhara have called on the Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, Badri Prasad Pandey, to immediately start international flight operations at Pokhara International Airport. The request was made during a discussion held in Pokhara today, where business leaders emphasized the urgency of the matter.
The entrepreneurs, under the umbrella organization Pokhara Tourism Council, urged Minister Pandey to take swift action to begin international flights and to accelerate the ongoing road infrastructure improvements leading to the city. Pokhara Tourism Council President, Taranath Pahari, presented a memorandum to the Minister, demanding immediate international flight services and better road infrastructure, especially for access to Pokhara. Additionally, he called for efforts to ensure smooth and regular operations at the Korala border point between Nepal and China.
Former Nepal Tourism Board member, Basudev Tripathi, highlighted the situation at Tribhuvan International Airport, which has been forced to shut down for 10 hours daily due to ongoing upgrades, and urged the full utilization of Pokhara International Airport. Bharatraj Parajuli, a central member of the Hotel Association of Nepal, echoed the need for serious government attention to both international flights from Pokhara International Airport and the improvement of highways.
Veteran tourism entrepreneur Ganesh Bahadur Bhattarai pointed out that tourism could play a key role in alleviating poverty in Nepal, stressing the need to promote sports tourism. He also suggested organizing tourism and peace music festivals in the region to attract more visitors.
Meanwhile, Hotel Association of Pokhara President Laxman Subedi, in his memorandum to Minister Pandey, emphasized the need for the hotel industry to be recognized as an industrial sector and to receive similar financial benefits and interest rates as those offered to agriculture and energy sectors. He also called for the expansion of domestic air services to connect different cities across Nepal, targeting internal tourists, and suggested strengthening the monitoring of the newly introduced 42-point nighttime business code. Suvedi also recommended that the Nepal Tourism Board focus more on promotional activities rather than infrastructure development.
In response, Minister Pandey assured that the government is looking into the reasons behind the lack of regular international flights at Pokhara International Airport, despite various incentives, and will work closely with technical teams to address the issue. He also mentioned that new guidelines for hotel operations are being prepared by the government.
The event also featured insights from Hikmat Singh Aire, Acting Executive Director of Nepal Tourism Board, former President of Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) Gandaki, Dharmaraj Panthi, and Rupak Raj Mishra, President of the Currency Exchange Business Association of Pokhara, who all shared their views on the potential of tourism in Pokhara and the surrounding region.
Source: RSS
