The 49^th Annual World Congress of the International Hotel & Restaurants Association (IH&RA) was held from 28^th of November to 30^th of November, 2011 in Crown Plaza Soaltee, Kathmandu in collaboration with HAN (Hotel Association of Nepal)

The grand annual congress of IH&RA was formally inaugurated by the President of Nepal Rt. Honorable Dr. Ram Baran Yadav along with the opening vibrant speech by the president of IH&RA Dr. Ghassan Aidi. More than 200 delegates from around 35 different countries took part in the congress to talk about various subjects concerning their industry...  The Hospitality Industry.

The three-day World Congress focused on new trends in the hospitality industry, redefining excellence in standards for the industry, climate change issues, sustainable development and biodiversity as well as investment realities in Nepal.

A team of delegates from NATHM comprising of Executive Director Mr. Prem Raj Joshi, Mr. Keshav Raj Shivakoti, Head of Department, Mr. Ujjwal Satyal, Head of Department and Chief Instructor Mr. Surya Kiran Shrestha participated in the Congress and the General Assembly of IH&RA 2011. During the General Assembly, all the participants agreed to form a task force which will submit their research for members approval to the next congress. Similarly, it has been determined that the next year congress and the General Assembly will be in Lima-Peru on 9-11 January 2013.

Twenty students from BHM and BTTM of NATHM volunteered to assist management at the congress and the General Assembly in executing their works. The president of IH&RA Dr. Ghassan Aidi conferred each volunteer student with certificates of appreciation at the end of the congress.

IH&RA is a global business organization representing the hospitality industry worldwide. Its members represent more that 2,00,000 hotels and 6 million restaurants.

Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) is a general member and Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM) is an institutional member from Nepal of the IH&RA.