Tourism ministers invited to NTY 2011
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, AUG 22 -
The government has invited tourism ministers of 21 Asian countries for the inauguration of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY-2011). NTY-2011 is scheduled to be inaugurated on Jan. 14, 2011 in Kathmandu.
“We have sent them invitation letters,” said Laxman Prasad Bhattarai, spokesman of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA). The government has planned to organise an extensive meeting with the ministers on Jan. 13 to strengthen bilateral ties and promote tourism in Asia. The same day, there will be separate meetings of tourism ministers of SAARC nations.
Prior to the meeting of ministers, Nepal will hold a joint secretary meeting of the SAARC Tourism Working Committee on Jan. 12 where discussions will focus on problems and barriers regarding tourism promotion, said spokesman Bhattarai.
The government has also invited the secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) to attend the grand launching of NTY-2011. The inauguration will be held at Dasrath Stadium, Kathmandu.
According to Aditya Baral, director and spokesman at the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the SAARC inter-government body will discuss the possibility of joint marketing, softening the visa regime, giving access to cross-border driving licenses, making Indian currency more flexible and increasing inter-SAARC movement by air by the national flag carriers of each country. “All these ministers will express their solidarity with the theme ‘We are together for tourism’ amid a gala function,” said Baral. He said that the NTB had proposed giving a public holiday to government staff on the day. The then Maoist-led government had announced the NTY-2011 campaign in October 2008 with the aim of bringing one million tourists in 2011.
Nepal, Tibet to talk tourism promotion
Delegates from Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China will discuss ways to promote tourism at a meeting of the Fourth Joint Coordination Committee scheduled to be held from Sept. 10-15 in Lhasa.
According to an official of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), 13 delegates from Nepal (six government officials and seven from the private sector) and three government representatives from Tibet will be participating in the meeting that will discuss tourism promotion in the two destinations and develop appropriate plans.
The official added that Nepal had set five major items in the agenda this year. They include issuing visas from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu to tourists wishing to enter Tibet from Nepal, simplifying helicopter rescue operations in Tibet, resuming Nepal-Lhasa bus service, providing visas to tour and expedition operators on a visa reciprocal basis and royalty waiver for Nepali expedition operators in Tibet.
Nepali expedition operators are presently required to pay US$ 1,400-2,000 per person as expedition royalty.
