President | President Group of Companies
BHOLA BIKRAM THAPA
Nothing can beat hard work, dedication, and innovation for success in work and life, and this is especially true for the President of President Group, Bhola Bikram Thapa, who started his career as ticketing personnel with Yeti Travels.
When he established the company nearly 40 years ago, it was literally a one-man band; today, the company has over 100 employees, is a recognized travel and tourism brand, and has been recognized by several airlines, including Qatar Airways, SilkAir, and Etihad Airways, for its outstanding performance.
President Group, over the years, has witnessed and withstood the test of time. It has been challenged by the highs and lows of tourism in Nepal, and each time it has successfully delivered. Nepal‘s struggle to counter negative travel advisories in the 1990s and the outstanding comeback Nepal made in 1998 with the Visit Nepal campaign and then in 2011 with the Visit Nepal Year were successful because of the efforts of a handful of people. Among them was Bhola Bikram Thapa, in charge of the Civil Aviation and TIA subcommittees for NTY 2011. He worked relentlessly as a mediator between the airlines and the civil aviation authority to ease problems between the two bodies. For this very reason, in 2013, Tribhuvan International Airport recognized and awarded President Group for extending support to the Airlines Operators Committee.
He is also the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Bulgaria in Nepal. Thapa believes Nepal‘s tourism sector is growing despite the sometimes dire situations. Business 360 spoke with Bhola Bikram Thapa, going back in time to dwell on the success of President Group, his work mantra, and Nepal‘s tourism industry at large.
CEO | Nepal Tourism Board
Dr. Dhananjay Regmi
Dr. Dhananjay Regmi, born in 1975 in Nepal, obtained his PhD in Environmental Earth Science from Hokkaido University, Japan, in 2006. Then he served as a postdoctoral research fellow for the Global Land Project at the NODAL office in Sapporo, Japan. He completed a three-month post-doctoral course on deochronological research at Arizona University, USA, as a Hurry Fellow.
Dr. Regmi has served as an adjunct professor at TU as a glacier and periglacial geomorphologist. He has been working as a VC of the Nepal Geographical Society since 2018. Dr. Regmi has been involved in the field of ecological restoration activities as the President of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) Nepal chapter. In addition, as Chairperson of the Himalayan Research Expedition (HRE) and the Himalayan Research Center (HRC) in Nepal, he has been working for the betterment of the livelihood of the high mountain people through his intensive research activities in the Himalayas.
Dr. Regmi is also serving as CEO of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) since January 2020.
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN | IMS GROUP
DEEPAK K MALHOTRA
Every journey is a reward. No matter how painful a journey may become, it takes one to a destination where one really wants to be. Deepak Malhotra has had a journey filled with more bitterness than anything else. Executive Chairman of the IMS Group, Malhotra’s journey as an entrepreneur has been full of upheavals.
For Malhotra, success comes along with recognition, public relations, and active involvement in work. IMS is the authorized distributor of Samsung mobiles in Nepal. It was in 1979 when Malhotra began a business of his own. He started off by importing watches. Malhotra, who has an avid interest in traveling, was on a tour to Hong Kong when the idea of trading clicked.
In the early 1990s, Nepal’s economic and technological development was hampered by a lack of technology and other services, such as consulting and telecommunications. The absence acted as a facilitator, which enhanced the need for such services in Nepal.
IMS Group has grown and diversified over the last twenty-eight years. The growth can be vividly seen in the number of companies the IMS Group banner holds. Currently, IMS has over 20 companies. IMS has always worked towards improving the GDP of the nation by developing various technological and economic aspects. Along with this, the group has also contributed to the development of the nation by providing employment to more than 700 people across Nepal.
Malhotra is a sort of a workaholic. He spends his weekdays working, while he loves to spend his Saturdays with his family. However, he prefers to complete his pending work on Saturday. Malhotra likes to keep himself socially active. He is also the senior vice president of Club Fifty, where cohorts in their 50s take part in various philanthropic activities. The club organizes free health camps in the villages and distributes aid like wheelchairs to the physically challenged.
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