Government decides to observe Visit Nepal Decade

KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 25 : The government has decided to observe 'Visit Nepal Decade' for stimulating the growth of the tourism sector. Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, Suresh Adhikari said that a decision has been made to celebrate the Visit Nepal Decade to activate and revive the tourism sector which has been dented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Addressing the Nepal Hospitality Conclave-2022 hosted by Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) on Saturday, he said a meeting of the Council of Ministers on Friday had decided to celebrate the decade from 2023 to 2033 as the Visit Nepal Decade. Before this, the government had declared 2020 as the Visit Nepal Year and set the target of bringing in two million tourists into the country during that year.

However, the Visit Nepal Year campaign had to be suspended due to the pandemic. The country's tourism sector has gradually started to pick up momentum after the Covid pandemic subsided. The government has announced the Visit Nepal Decade aiming for a speedy revival of the tourism sector. Its objective is to increase the arrival of foreign tourists and promote tourism by observing the Visit Nepal Decade through coordination and collaboration with the private sector.

The Ministry has made public the tourism revival action plan. It has stated to celebrate the Visit Nepal Decade, but what programs are to be carried out during the decade have not been revealed. The foreign tourist arrival was around 1.2 million in 2018 and 2019 before the COVID-19. Nepal Tourism Board's data shows 230 thousand 85 foreign tourists arrived Nepal in 2021. The Ministry had declared observing the 'visit decade' in the tourism recovery program it made public after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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