BIJAY AMATYA

Bijay Amatya is the founder and CEO of Kora Tours, a leading high-end travel and tourism service company in Nepal. With four decades of experience in the tourism industry, the seventy-two-year-old entrepreneur has dedicated his career to promoting sustainable, responsible, and regenerative tourism. Throughout his forty-year tenure, Amatya has championed high-quality travel experiences that preserve Nepal's rich cultural heritage, natural beauty, and the friendly spirit of its people. He is known for his hands-on approach to quality control, personally visiting and testing hotels and restaurants unannounced to ensure they meet his strict standards before recommending them to clients. His commitment to business integrity is reflected in his treatment of his staff, whom he views as essential assets, and his belief in value-based pricing over unhealthy market competition.

Amatya studied in Russia and speaks Russian, which once inspired him to explore unique business ideas like exporting frozen momos. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated creative leadership during challenging times, such as in November 2004 when he successfully coordinated a Finnair charter flight from Finland to bring one hundred and sixty tourists to Nepal for an eleven-night stay during the peak of the Maoist insurgency. Believing that safety is the ultimate backbone of the tourism economy, Amatya continues to actively guide his company while advocating for systematic, long-term government planning and decentralized tourism infrastructure. He believes in working as long as one is physically and mentally fit, delegating authority to the younger generation, and living life to its fullest extent through regular exercise, meditation, and moderation.