KATHMANDU, July 24: The Sustainable Tourism for Livelihood Restoration Project (STLRP), launched in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has won the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Award for the third time.
According to PATA headquarters, the project won the 2024 PATA Gold Award in the Community-Based Tourism category.
The award recognises the project’s efforts towards creating tourism employment opportunities and promoting sustainable tourism development, which it achieved by working with seven provinces, 58 districts and 85 municipalities across Nepal to develop tourism destinations.
STLRP has previously received a PATA Gold Award in 2022 and 2023. In 2022 it was recognized for its Destination Resilience and in 2023 it was recognized for its work on women’s empowerment through tourism, sustainability and social responsibility.
Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) Acting Director General Nandini Rahe Thapa lauded the project for its consistent achievements and positive impact on the tourism sector.
NTB Manager and National Programme Coordinator Shraddha Shrestha highlighted that the project has created short-term employment for around 10,000 tourism workers and provided capacity development training to 4,000 people since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project also introduced river guide and LGBTQ guide programs for women and developed a tourism strategy for 150 municipalities across seven provinces. Deputy Project Manager Dharam Dawadi said a professional tourism guide manual had also been created.
