Award Archives - Omalaya

An interview with Tashi Gyalpo, the founder of Omalaya for Radio Free Asia by Stéphanie

10 September 2015

‘If You Make a Good Business Plan You Will Always Be Successful’ On September 2nd this year ‒ Tibetan Democracy Day ‒ Gyalpo Tashi, the founder of Omalaya (formerly Tendrel Travel), was presented with an entrepreneurship award by the Central Tibetan Administration. Here, in an edited version of an interview with Radio Free Asia, Tashi explains his company’s origins and his plans for the future. http://www.rfa.org/tibetan/exile/interview-with-owner-of-tendrel-travel-09292015142116.html#.VgrYdpW9 Radio Free Asia: Tashi Delek to all listeners of Radio Free Asia. I’m Tsewang Ngodup. My guest today is Mr Gyalpo Tashi, who was born in Jangthang, Ladakh. He attended Upper TCV School in Dharamsala and is an alumnus of the University of Delhi. Tashi is among the first businessmen to establish a Tibetan company ‒ Omalaya ‒ in Ladakh, along with a Ladakhi partner. This year, on Tibetan Democracy Day, four outstanding Tibetan entrepreneurs were awarded seed money by the Tibetan Entrepreneurship Development Programme of the Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA’s) finance department. Tashi was amongst the winners and was presented with Rs 400,000 by the CTA’s political leader, Dr Lobsang Sangay. The award was made possible through the support of the Dalai Lama Foundation, Montreal, Canada. Tashi, please explain to us how you came up with the idea for your travel company. GyalpoTashi: I once visited France and met some French people who, upon learning that I was from Ladakh and had worked as a guide and interpreter of Buddhism, said they wanted to visit the country. They asked me to arrange a tour and this is how the company was started. In 2010, I ran a tour programme for three groups and in 2014 we hosted 25 groups. 2014 was special, because we arranged for the groups to meet a shaman, join Introduction to Buddhism sessions, as well as touring in and around Leh. RFA: Omalaya is based in Dharamsala and receives groups from around the world, especially France. Besides Ladakh, do you visit other sites in north India? GT: Our main programmes are in Ladakh, as the landscape, culture and pilgrimage sites are very similar to those of Tibet, which is more difficult to visit. We also run tours from Dharamsala to Bodhgaya and Nepal. Next year, we also plan to take a group to Bhutan. RFA: You’ve said you were proud to win the award ‒ to be encouraged to develop your business so that you can give more […]