Tourism Bill may go into rewriting stage: Tourism Minister Paudel

Bhadra 30, Kathmandu.

Discussing the ‘Tourism Bill, 2081’, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Khadak Raj Paudel (Ganesh) said that the Act should be made sound and the regulations should be made time-appropriate and flexible.

During a discussion with casino entrepreneurs at the meeting of the International Relations and Tourism Committee held on Tuesday, Minister Paudel stated that there is still a lot of work to be done on the Tourism Bill.

He said, ‘Many good issues have come up in the regulations, let’s make the Act sound. The more flexible the rules and regulations are, the easier it will be as they won’t need to be changed constantly to suit the times. Once an Act is made, it is difficult to change it.’

Minister Paudel stated that although the Tourism Bill has been passed by the National Assembly, it may go into the rewriting stage as many issues need to be added and corrected to suit the times.

‘We have a lot of work to do on the Tourism Bill. I am doing a lot of homework with the Chairperson and relevant colleagues. Because it has been passed by the National Assembly, there are many things that need to be added to suit the times. And since many corrections are needed, it is in a state where it may have to go through a rewriting phase. Therefore, in-depth discussions with relevant bodies must continue,’ he said.

Minister Paudel stated that some time ago, a large number of Indian tourists came to Nepal, and there were problems in exchanging Indian rupees when they brought them. He mentioned that there is a large presence of Indian tourists in areas like Mustang, Manang, Muktinath, and Pokhara, and said that businesses faced problems when they could not exchange the money received from tourists.

He said, ‘Some time ago, there was like a flood of Indian tourists. There was a large number in areas like Mustang, Manang, Muktinath, Pokhara, and Indian tourists brought a large amount of their currency, which our business friends accepted. After the problem of not being able to exchange it became complicated, I myself coordinated with the Honorable official and said that at least an opportunity to exchange should be given, otherwise, it became like an illegal act.’

He stated that it is impractical for tourists to not be able to exchange the money they spent on hotels, goods, and food.

‘People have money, they sold goods, rooms, and food, but if it becomes like an illegal act, then we have tried to resolve it temporarily by implementing some measures. I think something permanent must also be done about this,’ he said.

At the meeting, casino entrepreneur Balaram Sapkota demanded that clear and uniform standards be established for operating casinos in Nepal. He stated that there should be a provision for casinos to provide employment to at least 300 to 500 people.

He said, ‘Casinos should provide employment for at least 300 to 500 people. If they are allowed to open a casino for 4,000, they should be allowed to open one for 40,000, then it can provide employment. There will be marketing arrangements. I will do the marketing that the country cannot do, so the law should be made based on that.’

Sapkota said that casinos should not be divided into mini and large, and all casinos should be kept at the same level with uniform arrangements.

He said, ‘What is this “mini” and “large” even in gambling? I don’t see “mini” and “large” in Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, or Australia; only in Nepal do we have large and small. Casinos should be of the same level. There should be a single fixed standard for everyone. What’s the need for small or large in gambling? I am not in favor of it.’ He also demanded that provisions be made for small casinos operating in Nepal to go into merger.

‘A merger policy should be introduced. All of you should merge together. Those called “small” should merge. If banks can merge, and helicopters can merge, what’s different about casinos merging? You need to cooperate to do business. If there is no money, everyone should come together to make it big,’ he said.

Sapkota stated that by improving the standard of casinos in Nepal, international tourists can be attracted. ‘For this nation too, a casino should be like a casino. We visited Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Australia. Even if you go to nearby India, we want to show what a casino is like. After seeing it, you will know what a casino is like,’ he said.

For More: Tourism Bill Rewriting Stage