‘Visit Nepal 2020’ programme invites more tourists this year
Five years after the earthquake, Nepal has risen from the ashes to give a better experience for tourists. According to official statistics, 11.73 lakh tourists visited Nepal in 2018. Of this, nearly 2 lakh were Indians while 69,640 from Sri Lanka and 26,355 from Bangladesh.
The Visit Nepal 2020 programme which was launched on January 1, 2020, with the tagline ‘Lifetime Experiences’, aims to draw in more tourists this year with some interesting programmes organised in all seven provinces of the country.
Speaking at a press briefing in Kathmandu, Nepal Tourism Board Brand Promotion and Corporate Marketing Manager Shradha Shrestha said that the 2015 earthquake reminded people how powerful nature could be.
“Five years after, we want to show that we are a resilient nation.
Nepal is a perfect place to find yourself. There’s fantastic diversity among the people. We have various festivals that attract tourists. We now have a new governance system and the constitution encourages gender balance in politics as such making Nepal a very progressive nation. Next year we plan to organise festivals in all seven provinces including Shiva Shakti Parikrama and Buddha Jayanthi in Lumbini,” Shradha Shrestha said.
Visit Nepal Year 2020 National Coordinator S ur a jV aid ya said that 50 percent of investment is on tourism and several hotel chains such as Sheraton and Marriott have found potential in the country.
“We need to earn the confidence of the brands. The investment for the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign is approximately US$6.5 million. We are looking at private-public partnerships in the far west and east including airports and investments by the private sector. We are also aiming to reduce pollution and encourage the use of electric vehicles and get the youth involved in developmental activities,” said Suraj Vaidya.
Vaidya also said that the Asian Development Bank is supporting the programme to make it a success. As part of the programme, the respective stakeholder parties are adding more pressure to the government to commence operations at Gauthama Buddha Airport in Bhairawa and the Pokhara Regional International Airport in the first quarter of the year.