Nepal promoted in Africa

The Nepal Tourism Board successfully organized "Nepal Evening" promotional programs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Johannesburg, South Africa on March 18 and 20, 2013 respectively. The programs were organized to celebrate the successful ascend of Mt. Kilimanjaro by the 7  Summit Women's Team and to promote Nepal as a unique holiday destination in the potential outbound African cities of Dar es salaam and Johannesburg.

Representatives of Tourism Ministry, Tourism Boards, Ambassadors, travel trade operators, media and Non Resident Nepali Association members attended the programs in significant numbers in both the cities.

Speaking at the program in Johannesburg, HE Mr. Arun Dhital, Ambassador of Nepal to South Africa,  expressed great satisfaction to be part of the program celebrating the successful climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro by Nepalese women but also to promote Nepal to the South African travel trade and media. He expressed the commitment of Nepal Embassy to assist all to facilitate their travel to Nepal. Sir Francis Moloi, Jt. secretary at Ministry of Foreign affairs remarked that a new chapter had begun between the bilateral relations of the two countries by the successful climb by the women from Nepal and South Africa.  Ms. Hlubi Mboya, famous South African actress who was the  part of the team spoke on their climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Making an elaborate presentation on Nepalese Tourism in both the cities, Mr. Subash Nirola, Officiating CEO of NTB briefed the gathering on what Nepal has to offer to the potential visitors. He also briefed the guests on how NTB can collaborate to jointly promote Nepal in Tanzania and South Africa. He requested all to be in touch with NTB should they need any information on Nepal.

Similarly, Ms Saliee Basnet, coordinator of the 7 summit womens team made the presentation of the team's climb to the top of world's highest peak, Mt. Everest. She also shed light on the climb of the 4 of the tallest peaks in the 4 continent. Mr. Richard Regan, country director of World Food Program, Tanzania made a presentation about heli-sking in Nepal.
 
The 7 Summit Womens team successfully climbed Mt. Kilimanzaro on March 5th 2013 in their quest to climb all 7 highest peaks in the 7 continents. They have now climbed the 4 of the seven peaks in Asia, Europe, Australia and now Africa. 3 Tanzanian and 1 South African women summited Mt. Kilimanjaro along with the 7 Nepalese women. 

NTB along with World Food Program Tanzania, Nepal Mountaineering Association, Trekking Association of Nepal, North Face, Folk Nepal and NRNA supported the Womens Team in their climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
 
Officiating CEO of NTB Subash Nirola and Senior Manager Diwakar B. Rana represented NTB at the programs in Dar se Salaam and Johannesburg.

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Mid Western Regional Tourism Fair overwhelms Nepalgunj

With objectives of throwing light on potential and emerging tourism products of mid western region, promoting domestic tourism, raising awareness on tourism as a tool for improving livelihood of rural populace and to facilitate expansion of networking among the tourism stakeholders, Nepal Tourism Board(NTB) had organized the first ever Mid Western Regional Tourism Fair 2069 in Nepalgunj. The three day consumer fair was organized from 25th to 27th Falgun( March 8 to 10, 2013).

Inaugurating the fair, Chief guest of the program, Chief District Officer of Banke district, Mr. Dhundi Raj Pokharel highlighted on the importance of such program in promoting new destinations. “NTB has been instrumental in bringing the focus on this region in terms of prospect of improving the existing tourism scene of the region,” Mr. Pokharel addresses the gathering. Mr. Bhaskar Kafle, Vice president of the hotel organization Banke was optimistic about the future. “With due promotion and publicity, if the Government increases the investment in infrastructure, places like Sworgadwari, Khaptad and upper dolpo would see a surge in pilgrimage tourism,” said Mr. Kafle.

Trekking Agents Association of Nepal(TAAN) President Mr. Mahendra Singh Thapa expressed his concern over the strict regulation controlled by the government in the upper dolpa. “Last year only 600 tourists visited Upper Dolpa. This is a matter of concern. Dolpa trekking has the potential to come in par with Everest and Annapurna region. It can also lure the majority of domestic tourists,” said Thapa.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Krishna Prasad Shrestha, President of Nepalgunj Chamber of Commerce emphasized on the public private partnership in development of Nepalese tourism. “We need to reaffirm our vision of fostering public private partnership for the overall development of tourism of Mid Western region.  Nepalgunj has the poterntial to become the gateway and transit hub for the overwhelming number of Indian pilgrimage tourists visiting Mansarobar,” Shrestha echoed his views.

The coordinator of the fair, manager at NTB, Mr. Lila Bahadur Baniya expressed his excitement at organizing the fair in Nepalgunj.  “NTB is organizing regional fairs to decentralize the promotional activities and also to spread the importance of tourism across the country. Mid Western region has it all to aggressively come to national reckoning as there is huge potential of breathtaking views, homestay and cultural mosaic of the region,” adds Baniya.  “Local involvement and private sector’s investment is a pre-requisite to the tourism development,” he says.

In all, fifteen districts of the region, community homestay, private companies, tourism associations and others participated in the fair. General public and concerned stakeholders were acquainted with the required information by more than 37 stalls at the fair. The three day fanfare saw a host of cultural performances by the both national and local artistes.

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Nepal Makes a Bright Presence at MATTA Fair 2013

Nepal Tourism Board along with seven travel companies from Nepal successfully participated in Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from March 15 to 17, 2013.Visited by 90,000 general public and 100 media persons, the fair provided a good platform for Nepals travel agents to sell their packages and for Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) an opportunity to promote destination as well as new tourism products.

Among 23 national tourism organizations who participated in the fair, NTBs stall stood out for a unique decoration with a picture of Nyatapola temple on the top and Buddhist prayer flags across the stall. It was found that Malaysians are keen to travel in Nepal for leisure and soft adventure activities besides a chunk of Buddhist and Hindu population being interested in pilgrimage. General public seemed more concerned about the availability of halal food in Nepal. Good air connectivity between Kuala Lumpur and Kathmandu has given a confidence to the visitors.

The companies from Nepal who participated in the fair are :  Asian Adventure Treks and Expedition P. Ltd, Divine International Explore and Treks P. Ltd, Icefall Adventures P. Ltd, MuktinathYatra P. Ltd, My Nepal Adventure Tours and Travels, Nepal Social Tours and Travels and Shuang  Qi Tours P. Ltd. Nepal Tourism Board was represented in the fair by Mr.Laxman Gautam, Manager and Mr. Sameer Bajracharya, Sr. Officer.

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Nepal to be the new favorites holiday destination in Scandinavia

The Nepal Tourism Board organized the first ever Nepal Sales Mission in the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden and Denmark on March 12, 13 & 14, 2013.  Eight  leading  tour operators and hotels from Nepal participated in this very successful Sales Mission. The target audience, the leading tour operators and media in the cities of Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm were invited to the Nepal Evening. The emphasis was on tour operators and travel agents selling Asia but not yet Nepal.

The Ambassador of Nepal to Denmark, H.E Mukti Nath Bhatta addressed the gathering in Copenhagen highlighting the numerous attractions in Nepal and the priority given by the Government of Nepal to tourism. In each city, a comprehensive destination presentation  was  made by Nandini Lahe-Thapa, Sr. Director, NTB followed by a highly interactive B2B workshop between the Nepali and Scandinavian travel trade members. The message was of course, that Nepal is much more than only just adventure tourism and offers something for everybody.

In seeking new potential markets, the NTB had focused in this small but economically very stable and high spending segment where Nepal is still relatively unexplored. The private sector participants have expressed great satisfaction and hope from this Sales Mission. The NTB has also discussed the possibility of joint media and tour operator FAM trips from Scandinavia with the airlines representative present during the program.

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Garden of Dreams makes it to Time magazine

Internationally acclaimed and famed weekly magazine Time (March 25, 2013 issue)  has rated Nepals Garden of Dreams as one of the favorite places to visit  in Soul section of its Travel Special. Its reporter Karen Leigh writes, If you find yourself in the frenetic Thamel tourist district of Kathmandu and overcome with a need for tranquility, leave the Nepalese capitals snarling traffic and persistent hawkers behind you and make for this lush greensward across the street from the former Royal Palace.
Coverage of Garden of Dreams in Time magazine has put Nepal once again in the international tourism map, and image of Nepal as a happening destination has been redeemed, says Mr. Aditya Baral, Director and Spokesperson at Nepal Tourism Board. Karen Leigh further writes, Designed in the 1920s as a private garden, its wide lawns, surrounded by bamboo, fountains and exotic tree, are the perfect place to revive after a grueling climbing(or shopping) adventure. Walk its immaculately kept perimeter paths before find a spot to lie on the grass and read a book, the sounds of the city drifting overhead.

Built  by late Field Marshal Kaiser Sumsher Rana as his private garden representing six seasons, Garden of Dreams, a neo classical historical garden was renovated and restored from 2000 to 2007, and opened for public in 2008. Since history is attached with it, Garden of Dreams exemplifies the perfect amalgamation of pristine nature, age-old culture and perfect heritage management, therefore, all tourists visiting Kathmandu should not miss out to pay a once visit to this serene popular preserved Garden" says Mr. Aditya Baral, Director and Spokesperson at Nepal Tourism Board.

http://style.time.com/2013/03/14/a-little-place-i-know-24-of-the-worlds-best-kept-secrets/

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Nepal promotion in South Korea

Namaste Nepal Festival 2013 was organized in Seoul, South Korea on March 17, 2013. The aim of the event was to showcase the culture and tradition of Nepal, to promote unique tourism products of Nepal, to strengthen the Nepal-Korea relation and to create identity in the multicultural society of Korea.

Music concert, food festivals, handicraft  display and cultural dances made the event more interesting eventful. Ambassador of Nepal to South Korea also took part in this event.  Nepal’s icons like  Buddha’s birthplace, Mt. Everest were also promoted in the event.

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Nepal participated International Tourism Fair in Dhaka

Nepal Tourism Board, along with two potential Nepali private travel trade companies participated in the 10th International Tourism Fair Dhaka Travel Mart (DTM) 2013, in Hotel Pan Pacific, Sonargaon, Dhaka from 15-17 March, 2013. DTM 2013 is organized by The Bangladesh Monitor and supported by United Airways, Biman Bangladesh and Eastern Bank Ltd.

His Excellency the Ambassador of Nepal to Bangladesh  Mr. Hari Kumar Shrestha was present on the Formal Inauguration of the Fair. His Excellency Mr. Hari Kumar Shrestha visited the Nepal stall and encouraged the representatives from Nepal. He even appreciated the efforts of Nepal Tourism Board to promoted Nepal in the foreign land.
 
DTM 2013 remained a potential platform for showcasing the tourism products and unique destinations as well as a forum for open B2B interaction amidst the exhibitors, buyers, sellers and the visiting public in Bangladesh. Apart from the host country Bangladesh, NTOs, tour operators, airlines, hotels, resorts and other tourism service providers from the public and private sector from Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Turkey participated in the fair.  The show exhibited more than 50 exhibitors from around the globe. The show also offered access to expert advice, domestic and international tour operators, value-prices, vacation packages and special offers. The fair was observed by more than 8000 visitors despite the political instability in the country with ongoing strikes.

Nepal's stall designed and decorated beautifully with natural, cultural and adventure attractions attracted a huge number of public and trade visitors during the Fair. Nepal's stall at the fair became an ideal platform to generate more business for Nepalese tourism entrepreneurs. Nepal got an overwhelming response from the visitors and leading media from Bangladesh during the fair.  

Most of the visitors were quite updated about Nepal and they queried mostly about Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, Nagarkot, Casino Packages and culture tours besides travel season and connectivity. Similarly they queried about the honeymoon packages made available by the Nepali companies. Interestingly, a large number of visitors visiting Nepal stall were frequent travelers to Nepal and expressed their interest to visit again and again.

Bangladesh is the emerging market for Nepals tourism with abundant opportunities to explore more market potentials.  Hotel Annapurna & Abhiwadhan Holidays Pvt. Ltd. participated in the fair as the co-exhibitors. Mr. Kundan Sharma led the Nepalese delegation at the fair.
 
Nepal is connected with Dhaka by two airlines: Biman Bangladesh & United Airlines. Reagent Airlines a private airline of Bangladesh are planning to fly to Kathmandu in the near future. Apart from this, a growing tendency has been found among the travelers to travel by land, Bangladeshi tourists come to Nepal via land route through India from Kakarvitta entry point from Eastern Nepal.

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