Dhananjay Regmi has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) for a four year tenure.
A meeting of the NTB board of directors yesterday decided to pick Regmi as the new CEO. Earlier, three candidates were shortlisted by a selection committee headed by Ghanashyam Upadhyaya, joint secretary at the tourism ministry, for the top post.
The committee had forwarded the names of Deepak Bastakoti, Hikmat Singh Ayer and Regmi to the board of directors on January 17.
The board meeting, however, was recurrently postponed citing busy schedule of board members and tourism secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari who chairs the board.
The appointment of a CEO had been stalled for over a week due to alleged clash of political interests.
Regmi has been appointed the CEO of NTB after nearly four months since the Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign began. His main challenge will be to meet the target of welcoming 2 million visitors in 2020.
WHO IS DHANANJAY REGMI?
Dhananjay Regmi, a mountain geomorphologist and glaciologist, obtained his PhD in Environmental Earth Science from the Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Japan, in 2006.
He has been working as an adjunct professor at the Central Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Tribhuvan University, and also acting as a vice-chairperson of Kathmandu-based Nepal Geographical Society.
Regmi also served as Glaciologist and Glacier Lake Expert for the Imja Lake Lowering project. He is also the chairperson of a trekking outfitter Himalayan Research Expedition and The Himalayan Research Center, Nepal.
Regmi will have to resign from all the positions he is holding before assuming the office of NTB.
