Kathmandu: The Visit Nepal 2020 campaign begins today with the aim of creating a discussion about the country’s tourism sector around the world.
A special ceremony held at Dasharath Stadium, President Bidya Devi Bhandari officially announced the mega tourism campaign. Especially among international tourist this kind of tourism campaign held after 2011 aims to glorify Nepal as a tourist hub.
Hundreds of foreign delegates from India, China, Myanmar and Jamaica arrived to attend the inauguration ceremony.40 media houses around the world have also sent to the media to cover the inauguration of the nationwide campaign.
In order to make the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign successful, the government has organized new destinations, national and international sales missions and appointed brand ambassadors for the event while the private sector has offered a discount package for the year-long campaign.
In association with Nepal Tourism Board, the program is supervised by the VNY 2020 Campaign Secretariat under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. MoCTCA has introduced 100 new tourist destinations targeting to go beyond the regular products. The meetings conducted by the ministry with more than 100 governmental and non-governmental organizations to request their support in promoting this campaign in their respective areas.
The first vice- president of Hotel Association Nepal, Mr. Vinayak Shah said that the promotion of VNY 2020 has created a huge buzz in the country, the government yet to make the necessary efforts to promote the campaign in the international market. He added that they have enough potential to bring in high-end tourists, but still lagging behind in attracting such tourists due to lack of proper tourism infrastructure and also have limited areas where tourists can spend.
Tourism Minister Mr.Yogesh Bhattarai said VNY 2020 would be the base year for the next one decade. The government is preparing to announce tourism decade from 2021. The year 2020 alone is not enough for the development we want in the tourism sector. The tourism decade will be celebrated to bring about a massive change in the tourism industry. He added that the VNY 2020 was a public campaign where every single Nepali had to chip in to make it successful.
The VN 2020 secretariat announced it would organize several grand events in 2020, including Nepal India China Expo, Mustang Trail Race, Everest Marathon, Otaku Jatra, Sustainable Summits Conference, World Trails Conference, the Great Karnali Quest and Kathmandu Triennale.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
