KATHMANDU, Nepal-Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ram Kumar Shrestha expressed confidence that more foreign mountaineers would visit Nepal with the government’s decision to open 165 new peaks for adventure tourism starting this season.
‘More enthusiastic mountaineers would pay visit to Nepal along with the government decision to open more peaks for adventure tourism,’ Minister Shrestha said during a programme in Kathmandu on Friday.
Only on Thursday, a government panel formed under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation had recommended the names of 165 new peaks to be opened in Nepal for the upcoming adventure season.
Minister Shrestha also informed that the government is targeting more mountaineers from Asian countries.
‘We are now targeting new economies like neighboring China, India, Korea, Thailand and Malaysia besides overwhelming European countries for adventure tourism’, Minister Shrestha said adding that these nations are not only close to Nepal but share similar socio-economic cultures.
On the occasion the Minister said that there were no corruption and irregularities in the Ministry as rumoured outside. “I’ve no greed for money. I’m in the government for prestige,” he added.
During the programme, secretary at Tourism Ministry Sushil Ghimire said that the government waived the substantial mountaineering fees for 49 peaks in far western region for many years now.
Nepal is going to open new peaks to increase the number of adventures and boosts its income from tourism, according to an official at the Tourism Ministry.
Despite political instability and poor infractures, Nepal has already lured 700, 000 foreigners in 2012, a 10 percent rise than the previous year. Likewise foreigners’ trend to trip Nepal for the first six month of this year is also courageous.
Similarly, the number of European tourists visiting Nepal has seen a big jump in the first six month of this year, according to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).
In the meantime tourism entrepreneurs and mountaineering experts in Nepal have lauded the government’s decision to open many peaks for adventure tourism.
