On the occasion of the 46th World Tourism Day, Nepal has been presented to the world as a safe, open and tourism-friendly destination.
On the occasion of the 46th World Tourism Day, Nepal has been presented to the world as a safe, open and tourism-friendly destination.
In a program organized by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and coordinated by the Nepal Tourism Board on Saturday, the speakers said that Nepal's tourism has overcome the crisis after the latest Gen-G movement and has returned to an upward phase. In addition, the commitment to make tourism a pillar of sustainable development has also been expressed.
Prime Minister Sushila Karki's greeting message was read out on the day celebrated with the slogan 'Tourism and Sustainable Transformation'. In the message, it was mentioned that Nepal is an attractive tourist destination due to its unique natural beauty, biological diversity, rich multi-ethnic-multilingual culture and world-famous mountains. Emphasizing the need to make tourism a strong base of the national economy, the Prime Minister said that identification, promotion and development of new destinations is inevitable.
She mentioned that even though tourism has been affected due to Gen-G movement, immediate recovery has started and expressed her belief that this year's day will inspire to promote tourism as a basis for sustainable development, mutual understanding and international friendship. In addition, she clarified that the government of Nepal is committed to make this sector the backbone of the economy through the expansion of tourism infrastructure and improvement of service quality. In the
program, the Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Hari Prasad Mainali said that tourism development would not be possible without the activeness of the private sector and mentioned that the Ministry would always be ready for policy and legal ease. Joint Secretary Indu Ghimire also said that tourism has recovered in a short period of time and the government is standing with the private sector for sustainable transformation.
Deepakraj Joshi, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board, informed that the World Tourism Day has been celebrated since 1980 and presented the fact that after the Genji movement, tourist arrivals have started to increase again. According to him, before the movement, an average of 3300 tourists came to Nepal daily, but after the movement, this number dropped to 1600. He informed that the arrival reached 2200 in the second week and now it is around 2900. Organizations and individuals who have contributed significantly to the tourism sector were honored in the
event. Api Himal Rural Municipality of Darchula, Chhiring Tendi Sherpa of Solukhumbu who has contributed more than 50 years as a climbing guide, Ang Norbu Sherpa in rescue work, Siddhi Bahadur Tamang who has climbed Mt Everest 11 times and Manaslu 6 times were honored.
Similarly, a book titled 'Village Tourism and Identity' was released at the event. On the occasion of the day, American citizen George Cordell Branun and Chilean citizen Herzog Amunategui, the first tourists to land in Nepal, were given a special welcome at Tribhuvan International Airport.
