Malla Travel & Trek Services

Dear Colleagues,

Spring is the time for renewal and how appropriate it is that the Nepali New Year is upon us in this season to herald in an era of Peace and Prosperity for Nepal. The New Year Holiday is celebrated with gusto on Friday, 13th of April. In Bhaktapur one of the three royal cities of the Kathmandu Valley New Year is celebrated from four days before the New Year with the entire population pouring out into the streets in jubilation. Two wooden chariots – one belonging to Bhairav, the patron deity of Bhaktapur City, and the other to Bhadrakali, Bhairav’s female consort – are paraded through the city streets on New Year’s Eve (April 12) as the central event of this festival. A symbolic collision of the two chariots represents the union of masculine and feminine bringing promises of fertility in the New Year. A very tall wooden pole (lingo) is erected in a nearby square the same evening, but is pulled down on New Year’s morning (April 13), symbolic of the destruction of evil in the beginning of the New Year.

We wish all our friends and colleagues a Happy Nepali New Year 2069.

Warmly yours,

Subodh Rana
Chief Executive Officer

Destination News

Prime Minister vows to support tourism industry

“The Government of Nepal is planning to provide incentives to hoteliers in order to encourage the private sector to invest in the tourism industry. We also are committed to increasing the fleet of Nepal Airlines, building up infrastructure for the aviation sector and creating cordial relations between workers and employers,” said Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai while delivering his inaugural address at the 41st annual general meeting of the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) held in Kathmandu on February 10, 2012.

Tourism is finally getting the attention of the government and this gives stakeholders confidence in investing again in this sector. This can be only good news for all our partners across the world!

Luxury Coach between Chitwan and Pokhara

Tourism Entrepreneurs are starting luxury coach services on Pokhara –Chitwan –Pokhara route in a bid to facilitate travel between the two major tourism destinations. Tour operators said they have brought in luxury coaches for the purpose. Pokhara Chapter of Nepal Association of Tours and Travels Agents (NATTA) and Regional Hotel Association in Chitwan took the initiative after tourists and other stakeholders repeatedly requested for better services for intercity travel. “Initially, two tourist coaches will operate on the route every day,” said Santosh Pokharel, first vice president of NATTA. The Coaches will operate between Pokhara and Sauraha. We will add more coaches if the volume of passengers increases, he added. Operators have fixed one way fare at Rs 500 per person. Same rate will apply for both domestic as well as foreign tourists.

Tour Operators in the city currently operates 18 tourist coaches on Pokhara –Kathmandu-Pokhara Route, ferrying around 900 tourists every day. Likewise, entrepreneurs have also been operating five vehicles on Kathmandu-Chitwan-Kathmandu route every day. They have now decided to link the two major tourist destinations after a large number of tourists visiting Chitwan avoided traveling to Pokhara in the absence of direct tourist bus service.

TIA Improvement Plan underway

The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has forwarded various plans to bring about reforms at Nepal’s only international airport - Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). The ministry's plans have come at a time when the airport is getting congested day by day.

The airport improvement works will take strides with the loan assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), according to the ministry sources. Earlier, an agreement in connection with loan assistance worth Rs. 5.18 billion (US$180 million) was signed between the Government of Nepal and the ADB for the first phase in March 2010.

Necessary reform and expansion of the airport is taking place with this loan assistance. The second phase works will be put forward after the first phase process completes. The action plan for the reform of the airport includes construction of new taxi way, new apron and helipad, expansion of new terminal building, sterilizer zone and parking area, the ministry said.

Nepal Tourism Year

Visit Lumbini Year 2012

The year already has the blessing of the Buddha with the upward trend seen in January 2012 continuing in the third month of the year too! Nepal has enjoyed a sustained positive growth in the international visitor arrivals since June 2009.

The figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) reveal that visitor arrivals in the month of March 2012, compared to the same month last year, have increased by 37.2% to 63,799.

All regions have shown positive growth in the third month of 2012. The arrivals from South Asian region, have gained overall positive growth of 61.4%. Arrivals from Asia (other than South Asia) have also recorded positive growth of 21.5% in aggregate. Visitor arrivals from China, one of the fastest growing tourist markets for Nepal, have sustained the remarkable growth of 47%, compared to the figures in March 2011. Similarly, other Asian countries maintained the upward trend of previous months with Japan (12.3%), Malaysia ( 4.6%), South Korea (24.8%) and Thailand (27.7%).

An overall positive growth of 42% has been observed from the European markets with arrivals from UK (27.5%), Germany (85.9%), Spain (109.1%), Sweden (13.9%), Switzerland (183.8%), Norway (103.7%), Poland (238.8%) and Russia (53.6%) all showing upward growth. However, the arrivals from France, Italy and the Netherlands have declined by 3.9%, 1.6% and 7.7% % respectively compared to the same month last year. Tourist arrivals from Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada and have increased by 5.3%, 16.5%, 13.7% and 38.1% respectively.

Cumulatively for the period January-March 2012 international tourist arrivals to Nepal have risen by 27 % to 148,546 as compared with the same period last year.

Happenings

Shaman Festival at Nagarkot

An unbroken healing tradition exists in the mountains of Nepal at the core of which lies the work with altered states of consciousness and healing rituals. On Saturday, 13th August 2012 imagine yourself mingling with hundreds of shamans who would be gathering at the Mahadev Pond at Nagarkot, one hour's drive from Kathmandu City. Witness them entering in a trance in order to connect to the cosmic forces and re-establish the disturbed order. And on their way back to their homes Shamans will drop in at The Fort Resort in Nagarkot to perform the traditional ceremonies. The ceremony to invite siprits to come into the circle of life and to be with us- to help empower us and our families and to help the universe stay in balance.

• Shaman gathering will take place at Mahadev Pond early Morning. (one hour walk from The Fort Resort)

• Shamans will perform the traditional rituals at The fort Resort courtyard in the evening around 5 or 6 o' clock.

Worldcome was launched at ITB Berlin

Worldcome brings together 22 leading specialist DMCs in 4 continents that provide travel companies with tailored travel solutions. Together we set the standards in service delivery, excellence and creativity while treasuring our cultural and natural heritage. Each DMC has been selected to join Worldcome based on their fulfillment of strict industry-leading quality and financial criteria.

Worldcome has a quality promise and a common set of values which are Reliable Standards, Creative Solutions and Local Leadership. These are linked to 18 measurable objectives that each DMC has signed up to and that are monitored on an ongoing basis. Malla Travel & Trek Services is a proud member.

Hospitality

Five-star hotels occupancy

FIVE-STAR hotels in Kathmandu and Pokhara achieved 61.63 percent occupancy rate in 2011, thanks to improved tourist arrivals.

Of the 641,670 room nights available in 10 five-star property (eight in Kathmandu and two in Pokhara) in 2011, 395,459 rooms were sold, according to the hotel occupancy rate indicator compiled for the first time by the Tourism Ministry in co-ordination with the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN).

The stat shows the hotels recorded the highest occupancy in November, followed by October, April, March and February.

Nepal generally has two peak tourist seasons—March-April in spring and October-November in autumn. And, the hotel occupancy figures also reflect the trend. The five-star property saw 85.96 percent and 77.43 percent room occupancy in November and October, respectively, last year. The tourist arrivals figure shows 83,427 international visitors in the month of November and 96,970 in October. The lowest occupancy was recorded in January last year.

Sarangkot Fordays Restaurant

Come and enjoy a hearty breakfast where you can have a breathtaking view of the famous Sarangkot sunrise!

Sarangkot, standing at 1592 meters, has the perfect lookout for getting a panoramic sweep of the Himalayan Mountains that will take your breath away. At sunrise, you can see the peak as they slowly come into view from the darkness and change colors from white to a beautiful array of colors such as gold, orange, pink and red .Just a short 20-30 minute taxi ride from Pokhara, you don’t want to miss this spectacular experience if you are in the area.

Air Miles

Blue Airways

Blue Airways has received permission from the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation to operate flights on eight various trunk routes in Nepal. The airline aims to acquire two 48-seater ATR-42 and two 19-seater aircraft. The airline will operate flights to and from Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Pokhara, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj, Chandragadhi, Dhangadhi and Simara, according to the ministry.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) will issue the Air Operation Certificate (AOC) after completing its technical assessment of the company.
Since the Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) is already overcrowded, the airline is unlikely to have Kathmandu as its base. CAAN officials said the airline will probably be based either in Nepalgunj or in Pokhara.

International Airport in Pokhara

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), an autonomous body to regulate and facilitate the civil aviation sector in Nepal, has initiated the process of constructing a regional-level international airport in the tourist hub city of Pokhara. CAAN has issued a notice calling for bids from contractors for carrying out the airport construction. Interested contractors have been given a month´s deadline to bid for the construction.

According to the CAAN sources, the process of selecting the contractor was initiated after the Exim Bank of China assured the institution of concessional loans for the project. Senior officials at Exim Bank visited the site repeatedly in the past made a formal pledge of support. The notice published by CAAN says that the contract bidders would need to be either entirely Chinese parties or firms set up as Chinese joint ventures. This condition has been set as the project is being undertaken with Chinese loan assistance, they informed.

The CAAN notice has raised hopes among local stakeholders of Pokhara finally having an airport that will operate flights to the East Asian and other regional cities. The government has allocated Rs. 80 million in the budget for the current fiscal year for developing the runway of the airport.

Your Agency News

Participation at ITB Berlin

Malla Travel & Trek Services exhibited at ITB Berlin in the Nepal Pavilion. It gave us an opportunity to meet once again and interact with all our friends and colleagues in the travel industry as well as showcasing our products to new buyers. The launch of Worldcome of which we are a member gave added impetus to the proceedings as we conducted business from the Worldcome stand as well.

Thank you for coming and meeting us and we shall keep on delivering quality service!