Nepal Tourism Year 2011 kicks off with pomp and color

Nepal launched open Nepal Tourism Year 2011 on Friday amid a special ceremony at Dasarath Stadium in the capital.

“I declare the beginning of Nepal Tourism Year 2011 for peace, prosperity and stability,” said President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, officially inaugurating the program.

Representatives of nearly a dozen institutions organized a colorful cultural show. A paragliding motor show was also held, with 21 pilots exhibiting their skill for half an hour in a sky colorful with the NTY flag and balloons to the joy of nearly 25,000 participants.

Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, Nepal Army and school children presented group demonstrations of their skills and performed group dances during the five-hour inaugural ceremony.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said that NTY 2011 was aimed at giving a message to outside world that Nepal was a safe and attractive destination to visit. “Leaving behind a decade long conflict, we have crossed four years of the peace process. For stable peace, we now need a strong economy which can be achieved through tourism,” he said.

Nepal said the government was planning to double the number of tourist arrivals, increase their average stay from 10 to 15 days and also increase their average expenditure.

NTY Main Organizing Committee officially unveiled four different tourism products - The Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), Might East, Wild West Triangle and Tarai Tourism.

GHT is the world´s longest and highest trail of 150 days along Darchula and Humla in the west to Kanchenjunga in the east. Wild West Triangle is a product launched by Nepal Tourism Board to promote tourism in the mid and far-western development regions. It incorporates three protected areas - Bardiya National Park in Bardiya district, Rara National Park in Mugu and Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Kanchanpur - which are rich in flora and fauna, natural beauty and culture.
The government-mooted Tarai Tourism, on the other hand, incorporates sites in the southern plains that possess historical, religious and cultural importance but have remained unpublicized so far. Mighty East is a campaign which offers adventure tourism, trekking, mountaineering and travel along the ridges of the mighty Himalayan peaks.
Nepal has a target to bring in 1 million tourists in NTY 2011. In 2010, 610,000 tourists had visited the country. To achieve the target, it needs to increase arrivals by 40 percent, which is tenfold the estimated global tourist growth rate in 2011.

For meeting that target, private sector players have appealed to the political parties to adhere strictly to their commitment to making 2011 free from strikes and other activities that cause inconveniences to tourists.

Later in the evening, visiting Tourism Ministers from South Asian and other Asian countries lauded Nepal for holding a spectacular show to mark the day.

Speaking at the Asian Tourism Ministers´ Conclave, Ministers from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka said they were also planning to celebrate 2011 as Tourism Year in their respective countries also. They proposed mutual tie-ups and agreements in order to promote regional tourism.
sourse : republic media