Sunday Jun 16, 2024
Sunday Jun 16, 2024

Nepal Shines at GITF 2024

Winning Awards and Garnering Strong Interest from the Chinese Market


Nepalnews
2024 May 23, 12:01,

Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter, in collaboration with Nepal Tourism

Board and seven private sector tourism and hospitality businesses, made an effective

participation to promote Nepal’s tourism sector at the 32nd Guangzhou International Travel

Fair (GITF) held from May 16 to 18, 2024, at Area C of Canton Fair Complex, Guangzhou,

China. The fair, spanning 30,000 square meters, witnessed over 40,000 visitors from China

and other international countries.

On the first day of the fair, May 16, 2024, Nepal Tourism Board made a destination

promotion presentation on the stage in front of local Chinese visitors and tour operators. In

the evening, the PATA Nepal Chapter received two prestigious awards: the Gold Award for

"Overall Performance" from the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI) and

the "Best Partner" Award from GITF during the Buyers Night organized at the Westin

Pazhou in Guangzhou, China. Similarly, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) received the "Most

Popular Cultural Tourism Destination" Award from GITF, and Jugal Holidays from Nepal won

the Gold Award for "Product Innovation" from COTRI during the same occasion.

At the GITF 2024 Conference held on May 17, 2024, Ms. Lakpa Phuti Sherpa (Executive

Member of PATA Nepal Chapter),Suresh Singh Budal (CEO of PATA Nepal Chapter),

and Kundan Sharma (Officer of NTB) participated in an insightful panel discussion on

Sustainable Tourism Offerings of Nepal for Chinese Visitors during the Times of Climate

Change.

 Sujit Regmi, Executive Director of Nepal Big Mountain Travel Company, said, “I found

many people interested in visiting Nepal, and there were a lot of inquiries for Nepal at our

booth. Since we have been working in the Chinese market for the last 11 years, I believe

Nepal's participation at GITF this year has been very impactful in terms of destination

visibility and tourism business promotion.”

 Himmat Puri, Executive Director of Destinago Tours & Travels, shared his happiness

about participating in GITF for the first time. He believes that Nepal’s first post-pandemic

participation in GITF is going to be fruitful, facilitating reconnection opportunities with

Chinese operators and trade visitors. He found the response and interest of Chinese

operators and trade visitors in Nepal to be very optimistic.

Ms. Neeta Thapa, Director of Sales representing Hilton Kathmandu, believes that Nepal as a

destination has huge potential in China. She said, “It was a great honor to promote and

showcase Hilton Kathmandu, the first Hilton brand in Nepal, among Chinese operators and

visitors. We thank PATA Nepal for providing the opportunity to participate in GITF 2024.”

 Deepesh KC, General Manager of Hotel Himalaya, stated that participating in GITF was

a milestone to restart promotion in the Chinese market. As a hotelier, he found the trip

indeed fruitful along with other service providers from Nepal. He appreciated the role of

PATA Nepal and NTB in coordinating this promotional participation and suggested that the

government should enhance such international promotion and marketing programs in many

source markets within China to grasp the immense potential from this largest tourism source

market. He further advised that Nepal should prioritize and increase its digital presence and

promotion on various OTAs/online platforms for the Chinese Market, including Ctrip,

WeChat, TikTok, etc.

 Suresh Singh Budal, CEO of PATA Nepal Chapter, stated that China has become the

world's largest tourism source market, with many destinations prioritizing China through

aggressive marketing and promotion. In contrast, Nepal's promotion efforts are

comparatively lower. He further noted that destinations such as New Zealand, Saudi Arabia,

Hong Kong, and others manage their tourism board branch offices and representatives in

various provinces of China to promote effectively. He emphasized that Nepal Tourism Board

also needs to expand its branches in key and large source markets and engage in extensive

and effective targeted marketing.


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