The 46th annual general meeting of the Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA) has elected the whole panel led by Arjun Prasad Sharma for the next two years.

Sharma has been elected as the President of the association by receiving 185 votes, while his nearest competitor D. B. Limbu got the support of 101 voters.

The umbrella association of Nepal’s travel agents has 367 agents with voting rights. Of them, 346 voters cast their votes in the election held in the capital on Friday.

Similarly, Pavitra Kumar Karki, Sarbottam Lal Shrestha and Madhusudan Acharya have been elected as Ist Vice-President, 2nd Vice-President and Secretary General respectively. C.N. Pandey and Achyut Guragain have been entrusted with responsibilities as Treasurer and Secretary respectively.

Newly elected executive members of the association included Ms. Jiswaa Tuladhar, D.K Sharma, Nabaraj Sapkota, Bibek Vijayananda, Sudhir Kumar Upadhaya and Anangam Raj Timilsina.

Revealing the plans and programmes of the new executive body, President Sharma said that his association would lobby for making an end to strikes, blockades and bandhs that have hit the slowly reviving tourism industry of Nepal hard.

"We will request the government and the responsible political parties to show their commitments to ending such forms of protests," Sharma told The Rising Nepal.

He further said that his team would also campaign for strengthening the national flag carrier-- Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). "As tourism promotion is not possible without having a strong and reliable national carrier, we will pressurise the government to help the NAC in increasing its fleets," he added.

Talking about the ongoing tussle between travel agents and airlines, he said that the association would remain effortful in addressing the problem and ensuring commission rights of travel agencies.

Highlighting the upcoming tourism event-- Nepal Tourism Year 2011 (NTY-2011), he said that the NATTA would work together with the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and other concerned stakeholders to develop new tourist spots in the country and promote them in the international markets.

"We will also ask the government to improve facilities and services at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and other airports," he said.

Meanwhile, the association presented the Sagarmatha Award to New Zealander Elizabeth Houli for her outstanding contribution to promoting Nepal’s mountain tourism. Likewise, the association honoured late tourism entrepreneur Prayag Man Singh with the Bhaskar Award. Three journalists were also awarded on the occasion.