Ulaanbaatar
Tourism companies to jointly create a brand product
Economy
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. A discussion took place on the challenges that have surfaced in the tourism sector due to the pandemic and its solutions at the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) on October 20.
At the start of the meeting, Head of the Chamber’s Policy and Strategy Department J.Oyunchimeg introduced the results of the study on impacts of the pandemic. The study was conducted from March to September this year with a focus on the sectors of economy and business. The results showed that the tourism sector was hit by negative impacts from the pandemic the most out of all sectors, with non-food manufacturing sectors as a runner up. The sectors that have been least affected were found to be the sectors of IT, real estate, trade, and food production,
Involving over 1,000 entities, the study also found that 6 percent of the entities have fully stopped operations, while 26 percent of the entities have temporarily stopped their operations due to the pandemic. With the sector’s total income dropping by 80 percent, 90 percent of the total of over 600 companies registered to run their operations in tourism in Mongolia are currently facing difficulties in keeping their business.
To find possible solutions to overcoming the challenges, implementing proper management, and having them reflected in the government’s policy and decisions, the Tourism Council of the MNCCI and the Mongolian Tourism Association (MTA) organized the discussion, gathering representatives of over 30 entities in the sector.
Covering topics such as finding solutions to the difficulties in the sector as well as the necessity to renew the short- and medium-term sector policy, the discussion focused on operations of the tourism fund. The participants also agreed that another solution for the current situation would be for tourism companies to join forces in promoting Mongolia by coming up with a brand product or service for the global market, alongside settling on the general range for service fees.
Officials of MTA also put forth suggestions such as enhancing the management of the Tourism Fund’s expenditure and further defining the rules and regulations of the fund’s operations, and noted the opportunity to prepare personnel in the tourism sector during the time of the pandemic. During the discussion the MTA and the MNCCI were also requested to put forth a proposal to the government to exempt the sector’s top 150 entities with active operations from tax .
