After the 'Gen-G' movement, the tourism businessmen of Pokhara, who faced the lack of tourists at the beginning of the season, celebrated the World Tourism Day this time without pomp. General welcome to the tourists at the airport and bus park.

Rally at Lakeside without baggage. Pokhara Tourism Council and Nepal Tourism Board held an interaction program organized by the Pokhara office and listened to experts.

This year's World Tourism Day is being celebrated with the slogan 'Tourism and Sustainable Transformation'. In the interaction held in Pokhara, the expert emphasized the need for stability, safety and quality to revive tourism. British citizen Tony Jones, a leading figure in Nepal's adventure tourism industry, made a serious analysis of the challenges in the tourism sector and called for focus on stability and quality tourism. Jones, the main speaker of the event, pointed out the current instability as a major threat to tourism. "I have seen anger on the streets before this, but I have never seen such destruction," he said, referring to the incident where he recently had to return by plane when he came to Nepal from Dubai. "The message has reached foreign tourists that there is always instability in Nepal." He introduced the concept of keeping tourists in tents. He is known as the pioneer of rafting in Nepal. He is credited with introducing Nepal's rivers professionally, establishing safety standards and training the first generation of Nepalese guides. 

The first hotel in Bandipur, Old Inn, was established by him. In 2004, Queen Elizabeth II honored him with an MBE for his contribution to the tourism sector and Nepal-UK relations.

Referring to events like armed war, Rajdarbar massacre, 062/063 mass movement, earthquake, and Covid, he termed the current crisis as the sum of all the crises this country has faced. "Foreign tourists and travel agents can avoid one problem, they can also avoid another problem, but now it seems that there is no guarantee of stability in Nepal," said the 84-year-old, "Every country needs stability." He said, 'It is clear that this crisis must change the old ways, but it is not clear what it will bring. That is the dilemma. He said that people are worried about the uncertainty of what will happen in the next six months after the announcement of the election.

Appreciating the flexibility and optimism of the Nepali people, he admitted that the solution to the problem is not easy. He suggested that for the revival of tourism, he should focus on middle-aged and elderly tourists. "Nepalese are not going to Japan to take care of old people in Japan, they are going to call the old people here," he said, "They have both money and time."

He suggested a way to make Pokhara's tourism sustainable through an international airport. Currently, he is running a homestay in Ripe village in Bhanu municipality of Tanahun and bringing in tourists. Another speaker in the

interaction was Monika Chaudhary, a Bangladeshi citizen who is running the GCC Resort in Pokhara-28 Takkekot. She said that those who invest in Nepal's tourism wish to preserve the nature and culture here. "Foreign tourists don't like to trek on black paper roads," she said, "to pay attention to sustainable tourism, the nature here should be saved."

Taranath Pahari, president of Pokhara Tourism Council, an umbrella organization of tourism professionals, said that to revive tourism, the message must be given that Nepal is safe. He said that the tourism day was celebrated this time without pomp and show, to honor the citizens who lost their lives in the 'Zen-G' movement.