Nepalese Tourism professionals unite for tourism Recovery Plan

Looking at the News Channels in Bangkok gave us an idea that the half of Kathmandu is destroyed by the quake that hit Nepal on April 25. We arrived to Kathmandu and found out that the degree of damages as the media is manifesting is nowhere close to the fact. Yes the Himalayan capital has suffered a bit but not at that level media is showing. Portraying Kathmandu as devastated town is a perfect example that negative news sells.

Andrew Jones Vice President PATA & Bert Van Walbeek Crisis Management & Recovery Specialist

24 May 2015, Mr. Andrew Jones and Mr. Bert Van Walbeek today at Hotel Radisson in Kathmandu addressed the key persons of Nepalese Tourism Industry during the inspiring presentation entitled “Bouncing Back Better”.

After the powerful quake, the entire Tourism Industry of Nepal has united to form Tourism Recovery Committee. To boost the energy of Recovery Committee and to support the campaign Mr. Jones and Mr. Walbeek accepted the invitation and arrived to Nepal in a very short notice.  Amongst several other programs the Jones-Walbeek duo during the seminar delivered significant message to bounce back better from the state of crisis.

The brief presentation delivered by Crisis Management Expert, Van Walbeek highlighted the positive roles every tourism professional can play during the crisis into the tourism industry of Nepal. The presentation included the examples of successful campaigns implemented in different nations during the crisis of such levels. The bottom-line of the presentation suggested every attendee to do the right thing in the first time during the crisis.

Among the other speakers during the seminar was Mr. Suman Pandey the Chairman of PATA Nepal Chapter also the spokesperson of Tourism Recovery Committee, thanked Mr. Walbeek and Mr. Jones for the support. He also urged all his fellow professionals to participate in the Recovery Campaign and use their high profile networks to spread the positive news of Nepal in the global platform via social sites and the other means.

The Chief Administrative Officer of Nepal Tourism Board Mr. Ramesh Adhikari said, “The vision of Mr. Walbeek is the present necessity of Nepalese Tourism Industry”. He added, “If the expertise and experience of professionals like Walbeek and Jones integrates with the enthusiasm of Tourism Professionals of Nepal, the Campaign Bouncing Back Better would successfully achieve 100% result.

Chandra Mani Adhikari, the Officer of National Planning Commission and the Secretary of Ministry of Tourism Nepal Mr. Suresh Man Shrestha were also thankful to Mr. Jones and Walbeek. They expressed that the visionary support of Jones-Walbeek duo will boost in reviving the Tourism Industry of Nepal.