The Government of Nepal issued a statement on the crash of an Air Dynasty helicopter that killed Nepal Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Rabindra Adhikari  today together with 6 more, including the owner of Air Dynasty.

The helicopter went to Chuhandanda in Tehrathum district during beautiful weather. The minister and his team were to inspect a site for a new airport project followed by a stop at Parthivara temple, Taplejung, Nepal. The helicopter got caught in bad weather on its return to Kathmandu.:

The government statement was released to Nepal media and reads:

“An Air Dynasty Heli Services Pvt. Ltd’s AS 350 Helicopter crashed in Pathivara ( North Eastern Nepal) at 1330 hrs (NST), Wednesday, February 27.

As per the information received, there were 6 passengers and 01 Captain ( all Nepali Citizen) on board.  The rescue and search team of Nepal Army and Police have been activated. ”

Further government statements assume all passengers and the pilot died in the crash.

The minister was supposed to leave for Berchtesgaden, Germany to attend the 4th UNWTO Euro-Asian Mountain Tourism Conference on March 2.

After March 2 the minister was scheduled to attend ITB Berlin, the largest travel industry trade show in the world.  He was to launch the Nepal 2020 year at a VIP dinner in Berlin on March 7 and organized by eTN Corporation, owner of this publication.

Rabindra Prasad Adhikari was born on May 5, 1969. He was a member of the Nepal Communist Party and the current Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation as of Mach 16, 2018. He was the Kaski District secretary of the party.^[In the 2008 Constituent Assembly election, Adhikari was elected from the Kaski-3 constituency, with 13,386 votes. In the 2013 Constituent Assembly election, he was re-elected from the Kaski-3 constituency, with 15456 votes. Since 2013 he was Central Committee member of CPN UML and was President of Development Committee of Legislative Parliament of Nepal. He was also author of the book (Constituent Assembly, Democracy and Re-structuring) and (Samriddha Nepal).

He was elected as Member of Parliament from the election held on 26 November 2017.

Air Dynasty Heli service Pvt Ltd. was established in 1993. Air dynasty’s fleet includes 5 Ecureuil As350 Series Helicopters. Air dynasty is the oldest among a few operators of light helicopters and the operators of Ecureuil helicopters in private aviation in Nepal.

These helicopters are certified to fly up to 23000 ft. AMSL. Each aircraft can normally accommodate 5 adult passengers subjective of altitude and temperature at the landing site. Expert key professionals managing and operating at air dynasty have extensive experience of managing aviation operation in national and international civil aviation.

The United States retained its status as the world’s largest Travel & Tourism economy despite a standstill in international visitors from China, according to major new research released today by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

The research shows that the United States remained the biggest Travel & Tourism market in the world in 2018 with the sector contributing almost $1.6tn to GDP. This translates to 7.8% of US GDP with the sector growing by 2.2% (accounting for inflation) last year.

After registering average annual growth of 23% over the previous decade, Chinese travel to the US was flat last year partly due to trade tensions between the two countries. 

International visitors from China account for 4% of total US visitors but 11% of all spending, demonstrating their economic importance to the country.

WTTC President & CEO, Gloria Guevara, said: “The US continues to be the largest travel economy in the world registering growth of 2.2% last year. However, after recording ten years of stellar growth, international visitor numbers from China were flat year on year, caused in part by the deteriorating trade relations between the two countries. Given the economic importance of Chinese visitors, any thawing in the trade relations between the two countries would have a positive effect for the wider US economy.”

For over 25 years, WTTC, which represents the global private sector of Travel & Tourism, has produced the authoritative research on the economic contribution of the sector across 185 countries and the impact of employment.

This year’s analysis for the United States shows that the direct, indirect, and induced impact of Travel & Tourism accounted for:

• $1,595 billion, 7.8% of United States GDP (2.2% real annual increase)
• 15.6 million jobs
• $198.8 billion in spending by international visitors (0.9% annual decrease)

Guevara continued: “Travel & Tourism, has been a consistent driver of employment in the United States. The sector creates jobs, drives exports and generates prosperity. Its continued resilience and our projections for growth serve to highlight the importance of the industry to the US economy. The US is the biggest travel market in the world, the sector is integral to the country’s broader economic performance and must be prioritised.”

To strengthen the US travel sector and ensure it remains both robust and competitive, WTTC recommends that US policymakers focus on:

• Preserving Brand USA: We support the renewal of Brand USA this year—a program with broad bipartisan support—beyond its current 2020 authorisation to continue marketing the US as a premier global Travel & Tourism destination.
• Expanding, rebranding the US Visa Waiver Program: With its bilateral security and travel facilitation benefits, we support the rebranding of the VWP as the “Secure Travel Partnership Program” and its expansion beyond the current 38 participating nations to other qualified countries.
• Modernising US airport and other infrastructure: WTTC recognises the importance of world-class Travel & Tourism infrastructure – particularly airports.
• Biometric passenger identification: WTTC recognises and supports the biometric passenger identification and processing initiative, an area where the US is leading the world. The work being undertaken by US Customs and Border Protection for the roll-out of a seamless traveller experience is helping us to transform the passenger experience, enhance security and create jobs.

Over 300,000 jobs could be at risk in the Travel & Tourism sector in the United Kingdom and almost 400,000 in Europe if the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 29 March, according to a new analysis from the World Travel & Tourism Council released today.

A “No Deal” Brexit would have a damaging impact on one of the UK’s most important economic sectors.

According to WTTC, which represents the private sector of Travel & Tourism globally, the industry contributes more than €1.5 trillion to the EU’s GDP (10.3% of total) and supports 27.3 million jobs (11.7% of total). In the UK, the sector contributes £213.8 billion to GDP (10.5% of total) and supports four million jobs (11.6% of total).

The WTTC analysis models the impact on the Travel & Tourism sector over the next decade, based on the 7.7% forecasted fall in economic activity across the wider UK economy modelled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In this situation, a No Deal Brexit would result in:

• A loss of 308,000 jobs in the UK economy
• A loss of 399,000 jobs in the rest of the EU
• A loss of £18.6 billion in GDP to the UK economy
• A loss of £22.0 billion in GDP to the economies of the rest of the EU

To minimize the impact, it is crucial that:

1. The UK should continue to have access to the Single Aviation Market

2. Visa-free travel between the UK and EU should be maintained and the movement of people should be as seamless as possible while maintaining security

3. The mobility of labor for Travel & Tourism employees across the UK and EU should continue

4. Security co-operation to avoid hard border checks and lengthy delays are paramount

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC said, “The UK is the fifth largest Travel & Tourism economy in the world. Given its importance to the UK economy, it is now clear that a No Deal Brexit would have a dramatic impact on one of the UK’s most significant sectors.”

“If the IMF prediction on the wider economy is realised, there would be a total cost across Europe of over £40 billion and over 700,000 jobs compared to our projections. Our Members are already seeing an impact on their businesses and workforce.”

As former Secretary General of the UNWTO, the specialized agency of the UN mandated with promoting healthy and sustainable tourism, I am watching with concern some of the emerging trends in beautiful Amsterdam. Amsterdam, once known as one of the best examples of a city welcoming sustainable tourism growth in a responsible and manageable manner is starting to turn its back on tourism. Today, I argue, Amsterdam is at an inflection point; it can either use tourism to its advantage or waste the opportunity.

During my career, I have seen cities utilizing the full benefits of tourism and seeing it as an opportunity not only to contribute to the economic well-being of its citizens, but also as a powerful tool for engaging and interacting with other cultures. Such cities use tourism to break down barriers and stereotypes and in turn further tolerance and understanding, contributing to world peace. I have seen Denmark for example engaging with the tourism industry to ensure more tax revenues, London working hard to bring tourism benefits to outer boroughs and now Palermo involving its citizens in tourism decision.

I have also seen cities demonize tourism and reach the quick assumption that the problem is in tourism itself and the very nature of this human activity. The easy conclusion would be, therefore, to cut down the numbers and blame it on easy targets such as Airbnb and others. Such cities choosing for the “easy way out” solutions end up, in many cases, embracing a “populist” approach to their challenges. Such cities rely more on emotions and less on fact, but more seriously and, typical of the populists politics and tactics, appeal to anger and fear, in this case tourism and anything that is different and foreign becomes the enemy. I have seen policy-makers fueling xenophobia in popular European destinations for example, cities that continue promoting its tourist hotspots instead of hidden gems and now Amsterdam wanting to limit its own residents to share their homes with visitors.

Tourism, like any grand human activity, that has grown in an impressive manner in the last 70 years, has a downside to it, but that should never distract us from the opportunities it offers, when well managed, to make this world a better place. Travel and tourism is responsible for over 10 percent of the global GDP, equivalent to 1 in 10 jobs, and grows faster than the global economy itself. The UNWTO estimates that by 2030 there will be 1.8 billion travelers crossing international borders yearly. Whether this translates in 1.8 billion opportunities, or 1.8 billion disasters is up to us and how we manage this impressive growth.

Amsterdam, the city which very foundation is built on openness and trade, the city that invested heavily in growing tourism in the last decade, is today heading down a different path. Instead of preparing for the expected 25 million visitors in 2025, it is focusing on limiting capacity for overnight guests. Instead of allowing more Amsterdammers to profit from tourism, it is proposing to limit and even ban home sharing in certain areas. And instead of growing the current 70,000 tourism related jobs and the over €2 billion direct economic gains generated by tourism, it is choosing to have less and scapegoating tourism.

Once a city becomes known not to welcome more visitors, it will lose everything and not only the numbers that it does not want. Let’s not forget over one in ten jobs are dependent on tourism in Amsterdam.

Rather than continuing its current policies – which it has been pursuing for the last few years without any desired effect – Amsterdam should focus on long term tourism management solutions as tourism continues to grow. Firstly, Amsterdam should focus on maximizing the benefits of tourism to all citizens through creative ideas. Making sure every citizen not only shares in the profits of the tourism business, but actually profits from the very business itself and creates their own self-employment; Secondly, Amsterdam needs to better disperse the crowds of visitors over time and space, to decrease seasonality and alleviate the pressure from the city center and bring economic benefits to communities that have not typically benefited from tourism, beyond tourist hotspots; Lastly, Amsterdam policy-makers need to encourage the tourism industry to come together, boost public-private partnerships and seek collaboration between sectors to catalyze the change needed to keep tourism destinations healthy.

Tourism, when well managed, provides an incredible boost to host communities. I therefore plea to Amsterdam policy-makers to work together with the tourism industry, not against it. Poor management is the demon, the enemy, not tourism and its growth

With a record-breaking 4.31 million travelers visiting Jamaica in 2018, the island nation’s tourism industry is poised to boost its rate of growth by expanding investments in small- and medium-sized business enterprises (SMTEs), said Jamaica’s Tourism Minister, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett, CD, MP.

Min. Bartlett spoke today at the “Second Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises,” which was co-presented by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Jamaica’s Ministry of Tourism.

More than 80 percent of tourism is driven by small- and medium-sized enterprises in Jamaica.

“Increasing investment in national economies and its citizens will only result in having greater resources to provide an enhanced visitor experience,” said Min. Bartlett. “Here in Jamaica, it is through a broad range of strategies such as education, specialized training, and credit financing that is enabling us to professionalize Jamaica’s tourism industry, so more of our citizens can be on par with travel professionals around the world.”

More than 200 SMTE members convened at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, to participate in discussions led by an impressive roster of local and international speakers and panelists that included: Jamaica’s Minister of Industry Audley Shaw, CD, MP; Jaime Cabal, Deputy Secretary-General, UNWTO; Nestor Mendez, Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States; and keynote remarks by Álvaro Uribe Vélez, the former President of Colombia.

“The small- and medium-business sector contributes most to Jamaica tourism, yet only 20 percent of SMTE revenue returns to their benefit,” added Min. Bartlett. “Today, we recharged the dialogue on how to rebalance that anomaly and to back good ideas with investment capital.” He said strategies are in place to allow SMTEs to understand their potential, thereby moving from “mom-and-pop” operators to established, reliable sources of sustainable and long-term income.

Recently, the Ministry of Tourism has directed nearly J$1Billion into the Export–Import Bank of the United States for lending at a rate of four-and-a-half percent to Jamaica’s SMTEs, which has generated an overwhelming response from local small business owners. “To date some J$950 million has been lent to more than 70 entities and they are also making repayments with interest. By April, J$132 million in interest would have been repaid,” Min. Bartlett said.

In addition, the Organisation of American States (OAS) committed a total of US$500,000 to build the resilience of SMTEs to natural disasters and disruptions to tourism. The project, which is being executed over two years, is funded by the United States Department of State and managed by the OAS Secretariat for Integral Development.