All out efforts to make tourists feel special

Nepal’s tourism industry will pull out all the stops to make tourists feel valued on Tuesday on the occasion of the 32nd World Tourism Day. The first three foreign visitors disembarking at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be treated to a grand welcome and presented gifts. Tourists will also get discounts at hotels and cultural shows as part of the World Tourism Day celebrations.

“As culture is one of the major parts of tourism, this World Tourism Day aims to promote the values of cultural diversity through tourism which holds significance for the development of sustainable tourism in Nepal,” said Prachanda Man Shrestha, chief executive officer of the NTB.

The Tourism Ministry, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and more than 40 organizations associated with tourism have lined up various programmes to observe World Tourism Day. Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), the Tara Gaon Development Board (TGDB) and the Nepal Air Sports Association will be providing discount offers to international visitors on Tuesday.

All HAN member hotels are providing a 25 percent discount on food while the TGDB is offering free food and accommodation to two tourists on Sept 27. In fact, the TGDB started providing a 20 percent discount on food and a 50 percent discount on accommodation to tourists at its member hotels and restaurants on September 23.

Similarly, the Nepal Air Sports Association has decided to offer free paragliding to two tourists and ultra light flight to one person. Bhaktapur Municipality Office is providing free entry passes to Bhaktapur Durbar Square to the first group of tourists that arrives in the city. Similarly, tourists will get free entry to the Mountain Museum, Pokhara and Babu Chiri Memorial Museum at Tilganga, Kathmandu.

The Thamel Tourism Development Committee is organising Thamel Street Carnival 2011 while the Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal (REBAN) has planned a street festival in Pokhara.

The Tourism Ministry, the NTB and the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) are jointly launching new trekking trails and make public the marketing strategy for the Great Himalaya Trail (GHT) on the day. The new trekking routes are Nagi-Narchyang (Myagdi-Parbat), Dhorpatan (Myagdi-Baglung), Panchpokhari (Sindhupalchok) and Lower Solu (Solukhumbu). The association will also make public maps and documentaries of the new trails on the occasion.