Ambassador Delpitiya said that around 50,000 Sri Lankan pilgrims visit Lumbini every year, but they come and go via India, and that both countries should come together to create a package that includes visiting Lumbini via Kathmandu or Pokhara.
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Sri Lankan Ambassador to Nepal Ruwanthi Delpitiya has said that Nepal has not done enough to promote its tourism, especially Lumbini. She said at the ‘Bridging Horizons’ interaction program organized by the Pokhara Tourism Council and Visit Pokhara Year on Tuesday, ‘I think you are not doing enough to promote Nepal, not enough at all.’
Ambassador Delpitiya said that every year about 50,000 Sri Lankan pilgrims visit Lumbini, but they come and go via India, and said that both countries should come together to create a package to come to Lumbini via Kathmandu or Pokhara. She said, ‘Just as we have the sea and beaches, you have the mountains. We can brand this as a journey from the mountains to the sea and back again.’
She said that Nepal should also pay more attention to tourism, citing the example of Sri Lanka bringing in more than 2 million tourists in 2024 and 2.3 million in 2025 despite Cyclone Sitrang. She added, “As South Asian neighbors, let us not compete, but complement each other.”
Ambassador Delpitiya informed that Sri Lanka has managed to reduce inflation, which had reached over 70 percent after a severe economic crisis in 2022, to single digits, and that the GDP growth rate in 2024 has reached 5 percent, the highest since 2017. She said that destination branding, diversification and public-private partnerships should be considered as the main pillars in tourism promotion, suggesting that Nepal should also expand into Ayurveda, wellness and spiritual tourism, not just mountain and adventure tourism. She proposed that both governments should sponsor introductory tours for Nepali tourism agents to visit Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan agents to visit Nepal.
At the event, Visit Pokhara Year Coordinator Gopi Bahadur Bhattarai proposed establishing sister city relations between Pokhara and a major tourist city in Sri Lanka. He emphasized the need to initiate bilateral introductory tours between the two countries, collaborate in the promotion of Pokhara International Airport, and expand people-to-people ties. "We are also very excited about the launch of bilateral familiarization (FAM) trips between Nepal and Sri Lanka," he said. "By conducting reciprocal visits between tourism professionals, media persons and stakeholders, a better understanding of each other's tourism products, services and markets can be developed. This will play an important role in joint packages, promotion and increasing tourist traffic."
Pokhara Tourism Council Chairman Taranath Pahari said that the council is committed to implementing the discussions in a meaningful way.
