KATHMANDU, Nepal-In a bid to promote the lifestyle of locals by promoting internal tourism, the Fifth National Tourism Fair has been kicked off in Kathmandu from Friday.
The three day fair aims to promote the internal tourism by recognizing the key tourism destination of Nepal. One hundred and ten stalls related to various tourism sectors has been showcased at the fair, which will be continued till Sunday. According to the managing director of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) Lila Bahadur Baniya, tourism entrepreneurs from fifty districts have participated at the fair. The exhibition is being organized as per the national programme of the NTB. This year’s fair has special focused at the promotion of the home stay at the plain and the hilly region of country.
Inaugurating the fair, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ram Kumar Shrestha said Nepal is rich in the natural resources and government should mobilize such available resources to promote tourism. Stating that the government is committed to encourage the tourism sites, Minister Shrestha stressed the need to cooperate with international tourists visiting Nepal.
One of the participants of the fair Ram Hari Karki told that the fair has been proved to be an immense gathering to share their ideas and feeling about tourism. He opined that such fair should be held as national festival each year. Another tourism entrepreneur and the Manager of Avia Club Nepal Praveen Gauchan told to Nepal Mountain Focus that the exhibition would be a great platform between tourism entrepreneurs and commoners.
On the occasion executive committee of NTB and secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sushil Kumar Ghimire said the tourism should be developed from the grass root level, which bears special significance. Ghimire stress the need to develop the rural destination in international level. He informed that the government is mulling over to exempt the royalty for the mountaineers who desired to scale the peaks in midwest and far west region, an attempt to lure more domestic and international tourists at the region.
During the programme, acting chief executive officer of the Board Suvash Niraula said the tourism sectors has been marred by the frequent strikes and protest of the political parties.
The board has also managed for the lodging and food for the participants taking part from the corner of the country. According to the Board, nearly fifty thousand visitors will visit at the three day fair and NTB has estimated a budget of Rs 10 million to manage the fair.
NTB has estimated a budget of Rs 10 million to manage the fair. The fair is believed to play a key role for the tourism perquisite expansion.
The organizers have also managed free plane tickets for the participants coming from the remote district like Humla, Jumla and Baitadi to attend the fair. The fair is more attractive than the previous year. Various documentaries related to tourism were exhibited during the fair. Huge numbers of academic and training providing institutions are taking part at the fair.
Tourism Package programme informing various tourism destinations of Nepal are the key features of the fair. The entry for the fair is free of cost. Earlier, NTB had organized regional tourism fair at Dhanghadi, Nepalgunj and Dharan, some of the major industrial city of Nepal.