KATHMANDU, Nepal- Amidst the trend of low growth rate in arrivals of foreign tourists in Nepal that the tourism sector here are witnessing recently and to attract foreigners visit the country even in the off-seasons, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has floated an idea to work together with the Goa tourism, the most visited tourist destination in India.
The NTB and Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) officials are currently in Goa for a business-to-business (B2B) conference with Goa tourism players to push the idea of promoting each other’s destination among foreign tourists.
The plan is to tie up with Goa’s tourism players to swap foreign tourist arrivals at both locations, said a senior NTB official.
The Nepal side are looking to attract foreign tourists who throng Goa’s beaches to destinations like Khumbu region, Pokhara that home highest mountains in the world among other natural beauties.
“Foreign tourists who visit the coastal Indian state could also visit Pokhara for a different experience,” NTB Managing Director Basu Tripathi, was quoted as told to reporters in Goa by The Economic Times.
He said Goa could also benefit from foreign tourist footfalls attracted by Pokhara and other tourist destinations in the Himalayan country.
NBT Senior Assistant Manager Udaya Bhattarai said Nepal and Goa, which have casinos in common, could think of having a tourism circuit, but it would be for private players to decide, since the casino business is not government-owned.
“The casino business in Nepal is privately owned. So the possibility of having a casino circuit with Goa could be worked out by them,” he said, responding to a question.
Bhattarai said the majority of people visiting casinos are Indians and high profile tourists.
