Landing your dream job is, of course, a significant milestone, but what it requires to stand out is hard work, dedication, and an open mind to learn—be it from your subordinates or anyone from the society. The same applies to Anupa Budhathoki who landed the job of General Manager at Sabre Travel Network Nepal six years ago. She established herself through hard work and openness to learning, which in turn led her to be one of the most competent persons in travel technology and distribution system. TNM spent an hour with Budhathoki to understand all things ticketing platform—right from where she started and where she is now.

Anupa Budhathoki first fell in love with the tourism sector while she was in high school.

“Travel and tourism was one of the subjects I studied in my intermediate level and it made me realise the potential of tourism that Nepal has.

Seeing the potential, I pursued my bachelor’s degree in travel and tourism,” says Budhathoki. However, her studies took a different route after she completed BTTM from Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM)—she pursued her master’s degree in business administration. “It was my conscious choice as I thought five years of studies in tourism was enough, rather I wanted to hone my managerial skills and I did my MBA (Master in Business Administration),” she shares.

Budhathoki is with Sabre and has been working there as the General Manager since 2013. Now in her late 20s, Budhathoki is one of the few women in the tourism sector excelling in a leading position. Sharing on how she could get such a high-profile job, she says, “I was working as a senior executive at an online company and got to know that Sabre was looking for a candidate for the post of General Manager. The post of General Manager at the world’s largest travel technology company was the post I could hardly dream for. However, a daring and optimistic inner-me suggested that I might as well apply for the post—and I did,” she reveals. She went through a selection process and the end result was—“I was selected,” she exclaims, “and I was offered a four-month training by the company.”

The road ahead, however, was not easy for her. “I hardly had any experience in travel technology or global distribution system (GDS). Also, I think I was too young to lead people and deal with stakeholders, so I had suspicious eyes on me. It really was a challenging role.”

However, she never stepped back but excelled in her role with hard-work, dedication and practice—her three mantras to success, as she says. Reminiscing how hard it was to balance ‘life and work’ she adds, “During initial years at my work, I hardly attended any of my family events but worked even on my off-days. I worked hard wholeheartedly and kept the inefficiencies at bay through practice,” she claims with pride.

A foodie and an out-going person, she, however, maintained a total equilibrium of life and work and says, “Now the work which was rather hard before is just a piece of cake. I am very comfortable at work and I have no inhibition now to deal with stakeholders.” Apart from work at Sabre, she travels a lot, goes out more often—rejoicing the life she carved with hard work.

She also teaches Tourism Geography and Business Management Strategy at Public Youth Campus situated in Dhobichaur. Besides, she is active in empowering women working in the tourism sector. Also the Vice President at Tourism Sisterhood Association Nepal, an organisation that she co-founded to unite and empower the women working in the tourism sector, she says, “I think, to promote tourism in Nepal, there should be more women in leading positions. This is what we aspire to do through the Tourism Sisterhood Association Nepal.”

Text by TNM

Photos by Royal Raj Manandhar