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

The people of Upper Mustang have decided to withdraw their decision to prohibit the entry of tourists to the Upper Mustang after the government assured to address the demands raised by them. “The government has, albeit lately, addressed the demands raised by the people of Upper Mustang. Keeping in view the upcoming Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign, special requests by TAAN and negative impact that the decision could make in our tourism industry, we have decided to completely withdraw our decision of prohibiting the entry of tourists to the Upper Mustang from October 1,” read a statement issued by the Upper Mustang Youth Society on Sunday.

The Society further said that they would like to assure tourism entrepreneurs and concerned stakeholders that “tourism activities in Upper Mustang will continue as usual without any hindrance.”After the government failed to allocate 60 percent of total revenue collected from tourism activities in the Upper Mustang area for the development of the area and wellbeing of the local population as per the decision taken on July 13, 2006, Upper Mustang Youth Society decided to bar the entry of tourists to the area from coming October Following the series of meetings and initiative from stakeholders, especially TAAN, the Ministry of Finance on September 17 issued a letter, assuring the people of Upper Mustang that it would made budgetary allocations for the region in the coming days as per the government’s decision made on July 13, 2006. source:TAAN

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

As a part of celebrating World Tourism Day, Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) organized a hiking cum essay competition at Balthali village of Kavre district on September 24 and 25. Students from different +2 colleges in the Valley along with TAAN staffers attended the program. The hiking began from Namo Buddha in Kavre and progressed along Sankhu VDC to Balthali Village Resort after crossing the Roshi River. In the evening, the students participated in an essay competition on any tourism related issues. A total of 16 students participated in the competition. Te second day began with a hiking to the temple of Ladkeshwar Mahadev near the confluence of the Roshi and Ladke rivers. It then progressed towards a beautiful Tamang village and after crossing the Roshi River progressed to Khopasi before ending at Panauti. Bachhu Narayan Shrestha, first vice president of TAAN, said the hiking was organized to inform the students about different aspects in tourism business and to inculcate the passion of hiking and trekking among the youngsters. TAAN is awarding top three winners of the essay competition during its upcoming annual general meeting. Every year, September 27 is celebrated across the world as World Tourism Day. The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Tourism and Bio-diversity’. source: TAAN

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and Chengdu Municipal Tourism Bureau (CMTB) signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Sunday at Nepal Tourism Board aiming at developing friendly relations and cooperation, and promote each other as tourist destinations.

“The MoU was signed by Prachanda Man Shrestha, CEO, Nepal Tourism Board and Den Xijun, Deputy Director General, Chengdu Municipal Foreign Office on behalf of their respective organisations,” stated a press release issued by the NTB.

Addressing the delegation from Chengdu which is comprised of media and travel agents, Shrestha told them to highlight the good connection between Chengdu and Kathmandu and Nepal’s unique tourism attraction.

He also requested them to work together for producing Chinese tourist guides and promote Nepal-Lhasa-Chengdu as a single package to international tourists.

Deng Xinjun assured to promote Nepal in Chengdu through travel agencies and media saying that Chengdu is the nearest metropolitan city of China from Nepal, and he would explore new avenues for mutual cooperation in the future.

The main areas of cooperation mentioned in MoU are to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between travel agencies of both sides by jointly designing, developing, promoting and marketing tourism products and services of both countries, according to the press release.

Similarly, the MoU aims to share tourism information through various sources, to exert more efforts in promoting bilateral tourism resources and cultural exchanges to enhance mutual understanding between the people of two countries, to encourage and support bilateral visits of the citizens of two countries and to exchange professionals, travel agents and tourism associations as part of enhancing human resources of the two countries. source:nepalnews.com

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

he world’s shortest person Khagendra Thapa Magar had a heavy burden placed on his tiny shoulders on Friday. Nepal’s tourism board hopes the 22 inch small 17-year-old will help the country attract one million tourists when it celebrates Nepal Tourism Year next year. The ever-smiling Little
Buddha was named brand ambassador for the ambitious task at a function held here. Nepal plans to double its number of foreign tourists from 500,000 to a million in 2011.

As cameras flashed, the boy from a remote village in Baglung district, 160 km west of Kathmandu, flexed his muscles to show he is ready for the task. “We will be taking him to important destinations across the world with the aim of luring tourists,” said Prachanda Man Shrestha, CEO, Nepal Tourism Board.

As part of its international promotion campaign, Khagendra will fly to Tokyo later this month to urge tourists to visit Nepal in his barely audible voice. He is also expected to visit London, Paris and Singapore.

“Tourists will be told that both the world’s highest mountain — Mount Everest and the world’s shortest person will be ready to welcome them when they visit Nepal,” said Shrestha. Khagendra’s presence in most of the functions organised would depend on his physical abilities, he added.

The teenager who suffers from primordial dwarfism returned from a trip to New York and London where he hogged media limelight with his smile and comments about preferring leggy blondes. Khagendra has been named the world’s shortest person by Ripley’s Believe it or Not while Guinness Book of World Records who would confer the title after October 14 when he turns 18.
source:hindustantimes.com

The world’s smallest teenager, Khagendra Thapa Magar, was appointed on Friday to be Nepal’s Goodwill Ambassador to promote tourism.

[Prachanda Shrestha, CEO Nepali Tourism Board]:
“The shortest man in the world, from the country with the tallest mountain, is coming to invite you to visit Nepal.”

Tourists flock to the Himalayan nation to see Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, which lies on the country’s border with Tibet.

The playful 17-year old, who measures 2ft 1.8 inches (65.58 cm) tall, currently holds the Guinness World Record title of the world’s shortest living teenager.

Khagendra is expected to become the world’s shortest man when he turns 18 on October 14.

The current record holder is Colombian Edward Niño Hernandez, who stands at 2ft 3.46 in. (70.21 cm).
source:http://english.ntdtv.com