Marking the beginning Nepal Tourism Year, Nepal Tourism Board amidst a function on January 1 welcomed tourists at Tribhuvan International Airport.
NTB along with government officials and representatives of different travel trade associations gifted tourists with white scarf and a post-card of Mt Everest undersigned by Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Sarat Singh Bhandari.
The government had inaugurated new gate at TIA along with a sterile zone on the eve of the campaign on December 31.
The official inauguration of NTY 2011 is scheduled for January 14 at Dasharath Stadium in the capital. With the beginning of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011, tourism promotional activities have begun at major tourist destinations outside the capital.
Tourism entrepreneurs in Pokhara have unveiled different activities to be carried out in the lake city during the tourism year. Biplav Poudel, western regional coordinator of the NTY implementation committee, launched the activities, which include opening an information counter at Pokhara airport, celebrating mountaineering day, publication of an information directory, organizing tourism festivals and cleaning up Fewa Lake. Similarly, Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN) Pokhara chapter is promotional activities including Kaligandaki Valley promotional trek, exploration of the Dhaulagiri trekking route and mapping of Kathmandu-Pokhara route.
Similarly, the Gandaki chapter of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATA) is launching a promotional tour in different countries including close neighbors India and China and some countries in East Asia. It is also conducting trainings for tour guides and cabbies and sight seeing. The Pokhara Chapter of Restaurant and Bar Association (REBAN) has decided to organize street festival every month throughout the year.
Tourism entrepreneurs in Pokhara have set a target of bringing in more than 500,000 visitors to the lake city in 2001.
Similarly, tourism entrepreneurs in Chitwan welcomed 58 tourists including six foreigners at Bharatpur airport on January 1.
Activities were organized in various parts of the country to mark the first day of Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign.
Source: TAAN