Nepal Tourism entrepreneurs
Tourism entrepreneurs have proposed the government to waive customs duty for additional tourist vehicles, Karobar daily reported.
According to tourism entrepreneurs, additional 400 vehicles are needed for 1 million tourists as per the target set for Nepal Tourism Year-2011 (NTY-2011).
There are only around 600 tourist vehicles and some of them are very old. The entrepreneurs have proposed free customs duty to import new tourist vehicles.
There are some 1200 vehicles with red and black plates affiliated to Vehicle Association which have been carrying both national and international tourists, but the government has not approved it as tourist vehicles.
According to Ashok Pokharel, president of Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO), the government charges 200 percent customs tax in vehicle imports which make the cost of vehicles very high.
He said that countries like Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri-Lanka have only 10 percent tax, so they have been importing high number of vehicles to facilitate the tourists which has caused some negative effects on tourists in Nepal.
Nepal is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and it has a commitment to decrease customs tax, but it has not yet been implemented.
Ramhari Sharma, president of Tourist Vehicle Association, said that a vehicle priced Rs. 400,000 in the international market costs five times more in Nepal amounting to Rs. 2,000,000. nepalnews.com
