Business

Adventure Travel Industry To Promote Nepal Tourism Post-Quake

The Adventure Travel Trade Association and Outdoor Industry Association are partnering on an adventure trip through Nepal as a way to help the country in its recovery after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit late last month.

Two associations are joining forces to help promote tourism in Nepal in light of the recent earthquake that rocked the Southeast Asian country.

Together the Adventure Travel Trade Association and the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) are launching AdventureWeek Rebound Nepal to bring attention to the ongoing support the country will need as it recovers from last month’s disaster.

“We believe that the next six to 12 months will be very difficult for Nepal in general and, for certain, the tourism industry,” Shannon Stowell, ATTA president, told Travel Weekly. “So our effort will go into what we know we can deliver in destination strengthening and business continuity/boosting, specifically focusing on the adventure sector, which is much of Nepal’s tourism sector anyway based on its offerings.”

Similar to other AdventureWeek’s ATTA has operated, AdventureWeek Rebound will consist of a group of tour operators, travel agents, and media who will travel to and around Nepal as early as this summer to learn more about the country and its tourism options. This particular Adventure Week will also include “a few really smart industry gurus” who have expertise in tourism infrastructure, destination recovery, international connectivity, and marketing, Stowell told Travel Weekly.

“It is an opportunity for international tourism, marketing, and on-the-ground operations experts to volunteer their time and their funds to travel to a post-disaster destination and provide strategy and support around reinvigorating community-based adventure tourism,” ATTA stated on its website.

In addition to the organized trip, ATTA and OIA also partnered to raise awareness about alternative relief efforts, which they promoted on their websites.

“For the adventure industry, [April’s] earthquake in Nepal was devastating to many of their community members living in Nepal, to Nepal’s tourism industry, and to many others whose businesses are aligned with Nepal and/or the climbing community,” OIA stated on its website. “OIA and ATTA have joined together to research how we can best help the long-term rebuild of Nepal’s tourism and guiding infrastructure as they awaken from the devastation.”

(iStock/Thinkstock)

Katie Bascuas

By Katie Bascuas

Katie Bascuas is associate editor of Associations Now. MORE

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