In only a few short months, Visit Nepal Year 2020 will begin. This much-anticipated tourism push has got a lot of people in the business working hard and looking forward to promoting the country, welcoming as many guests here as possible and going the extra mile to make their time in Nepal unforgettable. We asked a cross-section of Kathmandu’s hoteliers to share their plans for 2020 with us. Monika Scheiblauer
General Manager
Hotel Yak and Yeti
Visit Nepal 2020 will definitely be an exciting year for tourism and Hotel Yak and Yeti. The country will surely see a huge rise in the influx of tourists due to the destination promotions going on. Hotel Yak and Yeti, being a premier and historical hotel of Nepal will take the center stage in making 2020 a success story in times to come for the Nepal tourism industry. We have restored the entire Lal Durbar convention center, retaining the Nepali tradition, heritage and luxury of over 150 years, to cater to the visiting guests. Also we have renovated the Chimney restaurant to give a great dining option for our guests. Currently we have undertaken the renovation of our all-day dining restaurant which will be ready by November; it will be an Indo-Nepali restaurant to serve the best of Indian and Nepali cuisine to visiting guests next year.
Upaul Majumdar
General Manager
Soaltee Crowne Plaza
Visit Nepal Year 2020 is a fantastic initiative from the Government of Nepal, and I think post the earthquake and the other political disturbances which we’ve had, it’s finally something where tourism is going to be the highlight for the whole country for the year. Visit Nepal Year 2020 is not just about bringing tourists to Nepal, it’s also about highlighting where Nepal is today and how it is going to get projected to the world. So the whole country gets behind this theme of Visit Nepal Year 2020; it’s not just about tourists coming in, it’s also about showcasing all Nepal has to offer.
Traditionally Nepal’s been a country which was focused mainly on mountains and some amount of religious travel. But I think now it’s going to be the great wildlife we have here, the cultural events which are happening, and of course showcasing places for people to come and see. There will be many people who will probably not come this year, but they will be at least aware of Nepal, and that interest is going to rise and that’s really what is great for tourism and for all of us in hotels in Kathmandu and in Nepal.
Our hotel is in the lead and forefront of supporting VNY 2020; we have been helping out in terms of working with the core committee, in terms of promotions, putting things forward, carrying the logos on our websites and so on. The logo’s just been released, and our hotel’s probably the first—right in the middle of our lobby we have ‘Visit Nepal’ right there, in brass, and we are very proud of it.
There will also be tourism and sporting events which will be happening—we are already the official hotel for the Everest Premier League 2020 which will happen in February 2020, and this time for the first time there will be international test cricket players playing as part of the Nepal teams which are there. So that’s going to go international and this time they’ve got Discovery Sports to take it ahead. So we are right there.
Then in terms of our own network of the Intercontinental Hotel Group, having more than five and a half thousand hotels worldwide, there will be promotions going through our website which will be accessible to all these hotels. Besides that, specifically for Nepal 2020 we will have some special packages which we’ll be launching: ‘Stay-See-Do,’ so you stay in our hotel, you see a lot of culture and you do things like cook Nepali food. Our hotel is planning to create a lot of events [like this] around VNY 2020.
We will also look at doing a big push with Nepali cuisine, and will have it available in our all day dining. I don’t think any hotel has done a Nepali food festival, and that’s on the cards of Soaltee Crowne Plaza.
Being pioneers in hospitality in Nepal, we will lead the way and make sure that Visit Nepal Year 2020 is a big success.
Surendra C. Thakuri
Vice President, Kalash Hospitality Management Group
Hotel Sabrina
Hotel Sabrina has completed all preparations to welcome Visit Nepal 2020, both in terms of hardware and software.
Our focus has always been ‘friendly and flawless’ customer service, hence we have extensively focused on associates training to meet and exceed customer expectations. We need to keep ourselves updated with the latest trends in hospitality and technology. Instead of com plaining and pointing fingers at one another, as responsible citizens of the country, we should continue to look at our own area of expertise to ensure that our product and service is zero defect and ready to serve.
Vikram Singh
General Manager
Aloft Kathmandu Thame
Aloft Kathmandu Thamel is participating in the IT & CMA event [a top international MICE event], which is going to be held in Thailand, along with the VNY team, in order to promote Visit Nepal 2020.
We are supporting with “namaste booths” in various places.
We will work closely with and support every event initiated by the VNY Team.
Pawan Rajbhandari
Director of Sales & Marketing
Radisson Hotel Kathmandu
We are almost ready with our 40 newly renovated rooms to be offered to our guests. We believe this will definitely give a good experience to our guests and will spread a good message in the market.
We are focused on giving all our guests a good experience during their stay with us, and we are conducting training for all our team members highlighting this.
We are also working on holding a cultural show at least once a month for all our in-house guests so that we can give them an experience of our diversified culture.
Also, we will be having Nepali menu choices for all meals at our main dining restaurant, so that our guests can enjoy a local gastronomic experience.
We will be putting the VNY 2020 logo in the hotel for entire VNY 2020 period.
Overall we are focusing on our guest experience to encourage repeat clients, as our records show that our country has many repeat visitors.
