Nepal to attract 500,000 foreign tourists in one year: Minister Ale

KATHMANDU, Feb 5: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale has pledged to bring in 500,000 tourists in a year after COVID-19 subsides. 

The first meeting of the Tourism Revival Committee organized here at the Ministry on Friday unveiled the aim of the government to attract 500,000 tourists in 2022 and double the figure in 2023. However, the year 2021 saw the arrival of around 100,000 tourists- the lowest in 32 years. 

The government has prioritized the tourism sector ruined by the pandemic, said the Minister. “COVID-19 has battered tourism. The government is ready to carry out tourism promotion and development activities.”

The committee aims to revive affected tourism and reestablish it in the international market, said the committee coordinator Raja Ram Giri. “Preparations are afoot to organize a mega tourism interaction in one month to revive the tourism sector. A detailed report to this effect will be prepared after collecting suggestions from the committee members,” he said. 

In the meeting, representatives from the private sector demanded that the government provide relief to the affected tourism sector. 

President of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Achyut Guragain, stressed the need for amending the 30-year-old tourism act. 

Similarly, the Hotel Association Nepal President Shreejana Rana and former President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Bhawani Rana viewed that tourists should be treated equally by the state organs while increasing the morale of tourism entrepreneurs.