Nepal Himalaya

Nepal participated in Bangladesh Travel and Tourism Fair (BTTF) 2010 held in Dhaka from September 30 to October 2 successfully, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said.

BTTF is one of Bangladesh’s biggest travel and tourism exhibitions organised annually in Dhaka by the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB).

There were more than 170 exhibitors from 10 countries of Asia and South East Asia offering access to expert advice, domestic and international tour operators, value-prices vacation packages and show-only discounts.

Nepali stall succeeded to attract visitors with its natural, cultural and adventurous attractions during the Fair and also became an ideal platform to generate more business for Nepali tourism entrepreneurs, the NTB said.

Nepal also highlighted the promotion of upcoming Nepal Tourism Year 2011 (NTY-2011) campaign and some of the online travel websites have also assured the coverage of Nepal emphasising the NTY 2011 campaign.

Most of the visitors were quite updated about Nepal and they also queried mostly about Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, Nagarkot, Casino Packages and culture tours besides travel season and connectivity.

The interested visitors have also showed their due interest in the NTY 2011 and asked if the government or private sectors had any special packages or incentives for travelers during that period.

Bangladesh is the emerging market for Nepal’s tourism. More than 15 thousands Bangladeshi tourists come to Nepal every year.

Nepal is connected with Dhaka by three airlines: GMG Airlines, Biman Bangladesh & United Airlines. These apart, Bangladeshi tourists come to Nepal via land route through India from Kakarvitta entry point from eastern Nepal.
source:nepalnews

Arrival of foreign tourists increased by 20.6% in the month of September this year as compared to the same month last year. According to the Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), a total of 41,331 tourists visited Nepal in September.

The arrivals from South Asian region have shown robust growth of 49.1% with Bangladesh (79.5%), India (40.9%) and Pakistan (43.9%) while arrivals from Sri Lanka have declined by 10.6%. A sustained growth of 22.8% has been observed in the arrivals from the South Asian region during the first nine months of 2010, in comparison to the same period last year.

Asia, excluding the South Asian region, has continued to maintain the upward trend with double digit growth of 15.2% in September 2010. China, emerging as the major tourist generating market for Nepal has recorded the positive growth of 19.7%. Similarly, visitor arrivals from Malaysia (68.5%), South Korea (52.1%), Singapore (3.7% ) and Thailand (8.9%) have also registered positive growths. However arrivals from Japan have declined by 7.7% compared to the same month last year.

Regarding the long-haul markets, Europe registered overall positive growth of 9.4% with arrivals from Germany , Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Denmark up by 33 %, 5.1%, 8.4%, 8.2% and 45.1 % respectively. The markets that could not show positive results in September 2010 were UK ( -5.6%) , Norway (-23.9%) Switzerland (-4.6 %) and Czech Republic ( -32.9% ). However, a sustained growth of 16.9% has been observed in the arrivals from the European region during the first nine months of 2010, in comparison to the same period last year.

The figures show increasing trend in the visitor arrivals from New Zealand with a growth of 38.5% while Australia posted negative growth of 0.2%. Likewise, the United States of America and Canada, both the markets have registered positive growth of 7.4% and 9.6% respectively.

A total of 36,921 foreign tourists departed from TIA in September 2010.The number of Nepali arrivals stood at 55,936 while 58,190 Nepalis departed from TIA in September 2010. source:nepalnews

The first international launch of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011 was held in Tokyo on September 27 (also World Tourism Day) during the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) World Travel Fair.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board, the event was held in joint coordination with Nepal Embassy, Japan, Nepal Tourism Year 2011 (NTY-2011) Secretariat and JATA.

During the function, Junko Tabei, the first female to summit Mt. Everest and other Everest summiteers Yuichiro Miura, Gora Miura and Mikihito Fujimori were appointed as goodwill ambassadors in Japan for NTY 2011.

Addressing the event, Ganesh Yonzon Tamang, Nepali ambassador to Japan said Nepal is trying to attract higher number of tourists from all over the world during NTY-2011. He also said Nepal is committed towards preserving and promoting its natural and cultural heritage.

Similarly, Yogendra Sakya, National Program Coordinator for NTY 2011 said that NTY-2011 is not just about tourism promotion but also to inform the world that after series of political turmoil, peace is back in the country again.

He also further informed that all political parties and the people of Nepal have come together to welcome tourists in 2011.

Junko Tabei, chief guest of the launching ceremony, thanked all for the honour bestowed and expressed her commitment for the development of mountaineering in Nepal. She also expressed her wish to climb Mount Kwangdi Ri, a 6000-plus metre along with Nepali and Japanese female climbers in 2011.

Speaking at the function, Kumar Basnet, spokesperson of NRN International Coordination Council said NRNA is pleased and determined to cooperate with the government of Nepal to bring one million visitors to Nepal publicising Nepal’s warm hospitality, friendly culture and natural beauty for the NTY 2011 campaign. source:nepalnews.com

Coordination Committee concludes The fourth meeting of Nepal-Tibet Joint Tourism Coordination Committee concluded recently in Lhasa of Tibet, putting special emphasis on problems being faced by Nepali trekking entrepreneurs in sending international tourists to Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.

The Tibetan side has agreed in principle to immediately take up the issue related to resuming direct bus service between Lhasa and Kathmandu. It also agreed to promote Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign through local media and put hoarding boards of the year-long tourism promotional campaign at major intersections in the Tibetan capital.

The Tibetan side also agreed to request the authorities concerned to provide visa for China bound Indian and international tourists from Kathmandu, allow Nepali choppers to conduct trans-border rescue and chopper flights in Mansarovar area and encourage Chinese airlines to fly on Lhasa-Kathmandu route. Likewise, the Tibetan side have also assured the Nepali delegation to request concerned authorities to provide three-month visa for Nepali tour operators and trekking workers, operate Tibet’s immigration office at Zhangmu as per localtime and open immigration office at Hilsa to facilitate tourists heading to Mansarovar.

The Nepali side also assured the Tibetan authorities that they would take up Chinese demands like providing free visa for Chinese tourists in 2011, allow Chinese national holding travel document to enter Nepal for a day and help Tibetan authorities to start rafting service.source: TAAN

Nepal and Turkey have inked Air Service Agreement (ASA) to operate aviation service between two countries.

Kishor Thapa, secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, and Dr Ali Ariduru, director general of Civil Aviation Department of Turkey, signed the agreement in the Ankara.

The agreement allows the two countries to operate 14 flights a week between Kathmandu and Istanbul. Both the countries have also agreed to help each other as per the need in aviation related training, maintenance, air traffic management and others. source:nepalnews.com