Nepal Trekkings

The Nepal Tourism Year (NTY)-2011 is being officially marked with fanfare across the country on Friday. Nepal has charted out a plan to bring in a million tourists during the tourism year. President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav will formally launch the Nepal Tourism Year-2011 at Dashrath Stadium amid a gala event on Friday.
On the occasion, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Sharat Singh Bhandari including dignitaries and members of general public will attend the function.

Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, Nepal Army and school students will exhibit various performances in the five-and-a-half-hour inauguration programme.
The government has decided to give a public holiday today to all the educational institutions across the country on the official launch of the tourism year NTY-2011

Students of VS Niketan School rehearsing for the NTY-2011 As a part of the tourism promotional plans the Nepal government has declared 2011 as year of tourism to achieve the aim it has chalked out plans to welcome one million foreign tourists during the year.
The Vice-president, Prime Minister, Constituent Assembly Chairman, United Nation World Tourism Organisation Secretary General and tourism ministers of SAARC Countries are scheduled to attend the programme.

According to Nepal Tourism Board, more than 25,000 guests will attend the function. An air show of motor paragliding will be performed by 21 pilots.
A separate event will be conducted at Tundikhel for general public. In the evening, there will be a firework display at Tundikhel.
Nepal tourism board has a target of welcoming one million visitors during the year to make tourism safe and economical we have introduced a new concept of Home Stay by which the tourist can feel Nepal in a better way.
The erstwhile government had decided to mark 2011 as the tourism year. Earlier, Nepal had organized tourism year in 1998 to promote tourism.

The Natural scenery, high mountains, incomarable cultural heritage and numerous specialities have made Nepal a well-known destination in the world tourism map with a distinct image of its own. However, the development of tourism is limited in number and within the cetain areas of the country only. The new government has shown greater concerns about the real value of tourism and its role in contributing to economic growth, poverty alleaviation, equity and overall tourism development in the country.

Therefore, the government is placing high priority on the tourism sector in its new economic development policy. As there is a favourable political situation in the country, the government is all geared towards economic revolution in next 10 years for the up-liftment of the masses. Inthis connection, government of Nepal in consultation with nepalese Tourism Industry, concerned organizations and experts decided to launch a national tourism campaign "Nepal Tourism year 2011". This announcement reflects the government's anticipation to bring into at least one million international tourists in Nepal by the Year 2011 and spread the benefits of tourism to the people at large. The national campaign also indicates the tourism industry's exigency to organize a tourism promotion campaign having wider impact.

With the glittering badge of adventure destination adn the adage "Atithi Devo Bhavo" (Guests are Gods) that reflects "Atithi Satkar, Nepaliko Sanskar" (Hospitality is Nepalese culture) deeply rooted in our culture, the tourism products of Nepal never cease to mesmerize the visitors. The cultural, geographical, ethnic and bio-diversities of the country allure international visitors to Nepal time and again which truly substantiates the spirit of Nepal tourism brand "Naturally Nepal, once is not enough !".

The concept of Nepal Tourism Year 2011 envisions harnessing these opportunities and strengths and bringing together the commitment of the government, expertise and experiences of the organizations like Nepal Tourism Board, aptitute and dynamism of the private sector and communities for furthe tourism development in the country. Active involvement of the major political parties, members of the Constitution Assembly and Right groups is always taken into consideration in order to make the campaign inclusive and participatory in modus opeandi and effective in result. The campaign will also focus on mobilizing the networks of the Non-Resident Nepalese (NRN) communities, nepalese diplomatic missions abroad, /NGOs,airlines, and national and international media. Similarly, friends and well wishers of Nepal, tourism academicians and celebrities will also be approached in order to highlight the campaign internally as well as internationally.

The NTY 2011 program was officially launched on February 26, 2010.

Objectives of the campaign

• Establish Nepal as a choice of premier holiday destination with a definite brand image.
• Improve and extend tourism related infrastructures in existing and new tourism sites.
• Enhance the capacity of service renders.
• Build community capacity in the new areas to cater the need of the tourists.
• Promote domestic tourism for sustainability of the industry.

Quantified Targets

• One million annual international arrivals.
• Dispersal of at least 40% of the international tourists into emerging and new tourist areas.
• Encourage additional investment on tourism infrastructures.
• Develop mechanism to record domestic tourism activities.

Promotional Strategies

• Focusing marketing and promotion activities on regional and emerging markets.
• Exploration of new tourism potential market segments.
• Highlighting the tourism brand: Naturally Nepal once is not enough!
• Enhancement of air connectivity with the regional, emerging and potential markets.
• Lobbying with the government for sufficient budget allocation to improve and expand, tourism related activities infrastructures in existing and new tourism areas.
• Attract and encourage private sector for investment in tourism sector.
• Capacity building of human resource involved in tourism.
• Lobbying with the government for effective intervention in domestic tourism, development e.g. amendment in the Transportation Act.
• Promotion of domestic tourism by endorsing Leave Travel Concession (LTC) by the Government.
• Organize major sports/events in association with tourism associations and stakeholders, during the Nepal Tourism Year 2011.(At least one event in a month)