The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruption amongst almost every industry, however, hospitality has undoubtedly been the most hard hit. Given the various travel restrictions imposed by the Nepal Government, and the lockdown forced on the local population in order to combat COVID-19, airlines, hotels, restaurants, bars, and travel agencies have all had to completely shut down.

Now, with a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases and fatalities continuing to increase across the globe, Visit Nepal 2020 - an initiation by the Government of Nepal to increase tourism - has had to be cancelled. With a target to bring 2 million foreign tourists into the county, this campaign planned to positively impact infrastructure development and create huge public, as well as private investments, in the tourism and hotel sectors in 2020. This, however, has all had to be cancelled and as a result, the hospitality industry is bearing severe consequences - with thousands of people dependent on it suffering massive losses and brutal job cuts. In response to the pandemic, many sectors have turned to remote working and now the hospitality industry will also have to rethink and find a new way to function if they wish to survive this crisis. 

Such an impact on the industry has never been seen before and as such we are still unsure of the consequences it will have on the country as a whole. Therefore, The British College has assembled both academic and industry experts for a panel discussion on the topic.  Together we will discuss the impact of this disruption and strategies for how the hospitality industry plans to bounce back. The discussion will include topics such as the challenges faced by the hospitality industry, future trends post-COVID, crisis management in the hospitality industry, recovery strategies, boosting Nepal's tourism potential - and particularly relevant for our students - the future of hospitality students in this field. 

Date: 17th July, Friday

Time: 1 - 2 pm

Platform: Zoom

Moderators:

Jeetendra Rokaya (Associate Programme Leader, BHM)

Kripa Basnyat (Head of Student Services and Student Engagement)

Panellists

1. Prachanda Man Shrestha (Former CEO of NTB)
2. Dr Rajiv Dahal (CEO, WalkingTracks Nepal)
3. Gyanendra Adhikari (Economist)

Prachanda Man Shrestha

Former Head, Nepal Tourism Board

Prachanda Man Shrestha is a Humphrey fellow on International tourism and development, The American University, and The George Washington University. He has a master degree in Commerce (M. Com) from Tribhuvan University. He has previously served as Chief executive officer, Nepal tourism Board (2007-2011) and joint secretary, Chief of world trade organization division, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (2001-2007). Former CEO of Nepal Tourism Board, Mr Shrestha also served the Government of Nepal under the capacity of Chief of World Trade Organization Division, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, GON, from Jan 2001- Oct 2007. He was nominated as the Top CEO of the year under Top ten BOSS Excellence Award 2008/09. He has shared his insights as an expert in different international forums such as Mountain Environment and Tourism Activity in American Alpine Club Atlanta, Himalayan Meet Tokyo, Tourism World Congress Puerto Rico, and World Conference on Sustainable Tourism Lanzarote Spain, Private sector Investment Chandigarh, Convention of Travel Agents of India Colombo, Multi-country tourism Products at Euro-Asia conference Xian, and China.

Gyanendra Adhikari

Skilled Economist with M.Phil in economics and over 12 years of professional experience. Involved in more than hundreds of television talk shows as an expert, visiting lecturer at top business schools in Kathmandu and attended different national and international conferences, summer schools, published research papers on international journals. Also, conducted different training programs in the field of economics.

Rajiv Dahal holds Doctorate Degree from the Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan. Rajiv is an experienced professional with 15 years of experience working in the field of Travel and Tourism in Nepal. 

Rajiv Dahal

Dr Rajiv Dahal is the Founder & CEO of a recently established research and consultative firm - WalkingTracks Nepal, since 2019. Dr Dahal has been associated with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter as the Coordinator of PATA Nepal Chapter Research Pool since September 2014; and the Executive Committee Member of PATA School of Hospitality since January 2019. He has been coordinating and providing expertise to PATA Nepal, mainly with - Research, Content Development and Analytical services and undertaking various tasks of the association regarding human capital development activities and programs of the association.

Rajiv Dahal has been actively teaching since 2005. Rajiv Dahal serves as ‘Travel and Tourism Subject Committee Member’, Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Lumbini Buddhist University, Nepal since January 2020. He is also the Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Tourism and Adventure (since 2019).