IIPT Destination Awards to be presented at 1st Asian Resilience Summit in Kathmandu

The Global Travel & Tourism Resilience Council is organising the 1st Asian Resilience Summit in Kathmandu on May 31. Hosted by Nepal Tourism Board, the event is supported by UNWTO, PATA, IIPT, TripAdvisor, CNN, BBC, Qatar Airways, PEAK DMC and ETOA. The event has been planned in the region to celebrate the successful resilience efforts demonstrated over the last several years by the Nepal Tourism Board in overcoming the devastating effects of the 2015 earthquake and will review successful policies in Nepal which led to stabilization, regeneration and growth of the travel sector. The Summit will be an opportunity to share the strategies that have enabled the country to recover despite the different economic, political, natural and anthropogenic changes in the last few years. Further, the event is seen as a platform to foster opportunities for partnerships, trade and foreign direct investment. A highlight of the Summit will be the IIPT Peace Through Tourism Destination Awards which will be presented at a gala dinner as the culmination of the Summit. Ajay Prakash, President IIPT India and Kiran Yadav, Vice President will travel to Nepal to present the Awards in four categories:

• Resilient Tourism Community Award
• Resilient Tourism Business Award
• Resilience Efforts Through Cultural Diversity
• Change Maker in Tourism Award

Government and travel industry leaders will come together sharing experiences and insights at the Summit. Well-known names such as Taleb Rifai, Xu Jing, Mario Hardy, Sudarshan Raj Tiwari, Deepak Joshi and H.E. Edmund Bartlett will join with Ministers of Tourism and other dignitaries to highlight opportunities in Nepal, strategies for resilience and explore further opportunities for Nepal’s continued growth, international perception management and also highlight the activities of youthful entrepreneurs.

Nepal’s Tourism Board CEO, Deepak Joshi attributes the country’s recovery to focusing on public private partnerships. “Working with public-private partnership module, Nepal Tourism Board has proven to be a successful and inspiring example for the world. I sincerely hope the NTB will continue to play a leading role, augmenting Nepal’s image at an international level, highlighting the advantages of tourism on a local level and thus accelerating the growth of the tourism sector for the greater benefit of the country.”