Tourism entrepreneurs of Pokhara meet Finance Minister Khanal
लगानी न्यूज
Gandaki. Pokhara—Tourism entrepreneurs of Pokhara held a meeting with Finance Minister Rameshwor Khanal and drew the attention of tourism entrepreneurs to the problems faced by the tourism sector.
A team led by Pokhara Tourism Council Chairman Taranath Pahari met at the Ministry in Singha Durbar on Monday and drew the attention of Finance Minister Khanal to the issues of revival of the tourism sector.TAG_OPEN_div_34 On the occasion, Minister Khanal was handed a memorandum with various demands.
Former TAG_OPEN_div_32 Chairman of the Council and former member of Nepal Tourism Board Tikaram Sapkota, Chairman of REBAN Pokhara Bishwaraj Poudel, former Chairman Naresh Bahadur Bhattarai, Chairman of NATTA Gandaki Province Kishor Dahal and Chief of Nepal Tourism Board Gandaki Province Maniraj Lamichhane were present in the meeting.
} The ‘Genji’ demonstration at the beginning of the main season of tourism business and the arson and vandalism that took place during that time have caused a huge loss to the tourism sector. They have also demanded identification of individuals and groups involved in vandalism, arson and looting of business establishments during the agitation and taking legal action against them and providing compensation to the victims at the earliest.
After the incident, tourists have been canceling their tour packages and bookings, and it has been urged to take necessary initiatives for the revival of the tourism sector in this difficult situation.
‘There has been a lot of crisis after the performance at the beginning of the tourist season. Due to the current situation, elections announced in February and political instability, there is very little possibility of tourists coming for a long time. Therefore, it may be impossible to pay the interest and installments of bank loans and loans taken by the businessmen till mid-April.
Therefore, we request you not to take any fee or penalty by extending the deadline for payment of installments and interest. Also, there is a need to facilitate the provision of loans with more concessions for the operation of the business,” the memorandum reads.
Similarly, the government has also urged the tourism industry to extend the loan repayment period to at least 25 years and provide refinancing facility.TAG_OPEN_div_22 In order to revive small and medium enterprises, the government has demanded to provide business life protection loan at zero interest rate for at least five years up to Rs 1.5 million as in the past.
The Council has urged the government to reduce the overall VAT rate, to immediately scrap the VAT currently being levied on air tickets and trekking, to immediately review the trekking permit fee for the controlled and guided trekking area and to take necessary initiatives to implement the tourism business at par with industry as the initiatives announced in the budget for the current fiscal year have not yet been implemented TAG_OPEN_div_20 ।
The team met with Governor Dr Bishwa Poudel and Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Tourism Board Deepak Raj Joshi on Sunday and discussed about the revival of tourism sector.TAG_OPEN_div_18
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्