Joshi appointed new CEO of NTB

The Government of Nepal has appointed Deepak Raj Joshi as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). His appointment was confirmed during a meeting of the NTB Board of Directors, according to senior director and spokesperson of the Board, Nandini Lahe Thapa.

Joshi, who will serve a four-year term, is no new face to the role, having previously led the NTB as CEO from 2015 to 2020.  Joshi had expressed that the role of CEO of NTB carries both a challenge and an inspiration. He acknowledged the difficulties posed by limited resources and the high expectations from the tourism sector but vowed to deliver results despite these challenges.

Joshi’s return to leadership comes at a crucial time for Nepal’s tourism industry, which is facing significant hurdles and opportunities for revitalization. The newly appointed CEO of NTB Joshi, has pledged to focus on meeting the government’s target of welcoming 1.6 million foreign tourists to the country.

The government has announced this in the budget for the current fiscal year. Assuming office today for the second time, Joshi said his priorities will be to promote the international market for Nepal’s tourism with the identification of potential markets and areas. He also had mentioned that he is committed to supporting the effective implementation of the Visit Decade (2023-2031) announced by the government.

He was the CEO of the Board in 2019 which marked the arrival of around 1.2 million foreign tourists. He got his term ended with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As he said, Nepal’s tourism sector needs more research and studies and he will do his best to address this gap as the CEO. He added that he has come up with a clear draft of his plan of action for the next four years and will be focused on implementing it. According to him, he will be unveiling his working strategy for the next four years soon. He expressed commitments to further expanding Nepal’s tourism in the international market in partnership with the private sector. He asses that the shortage of required human resources is the major challenge for boosting up Nepal’s tourism industry and will work for increasing the workforce in cooperation with the related agencies.

However, a case has been filed against appointment of Joshi at the Supreme Court, challenging the decision of the government to appoint Joshi as the new CEO of NTB. Dhananjaya Regmi, another competitor for the same post, filed a writ petition on 9th September seeking an order asking the government not to implement the decision to appoint Joshi.

In the petition, Regmi has argued that Joshi was appointed against the rules using discretionary powers rather than being based on the outcome of the examinations taken for the same.