Nepal welcomes 2020 in its own way announcing “Visit Nepal Year 2020” campaign

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Although the world welcomed 2020 with cheerfulness and fun, Nepal preferred to welcome the new year in its own way, announcing the end of the decade to be celebrated as “Visit Nepal Year 2020”.

The tourism campaign aiming to attract two million tourists by the end of the decade kick-started in all seven provinces of Nepal.

Nepal’s President Bidhya Devi Bhandari lighted the Unity Lamp at Dasaratha Stadium, thereby formally inaugurating the campaign which will run on for a year.

“I firmly believe that this campaign which started from today (Wednesday) would take the form of a great campaign through support and participation of all. Nepal is one of the World’s fascinating tourist destination; we not only have been consoling our resources and possibilities but also working hard to tap them up,” said the Nepal President while addressing the inauguration ceremony in Kathmandu.

Nepal said that it is important to make tourism one of the supporting pedestals of the country’s economy.

“Tourism has a key role in Nepal’s economic development. Nepal was opened for foreign tourists only after 1951. In the last six decades, big changes have taken place in Nepal’s tourism sector. As the country is moving forward towards permanent peace, stability and prosperity, the government has a goal of making tourism one of the key pillars of the Nepali economy. This is the reason the Government of Nepal has declared 2020 as Visit Nepal Year,” said Yogesh Bhattarai, the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of the Himalayan Nation.

Mythical creature Yeti has been picked as the mascot of the yearlong campaign. Stickers targeting ambitious drive were also launched over the Viber.

Tourism Sector has been contributing around 3 per cent of the total of Nepal’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). With the 15th Five-year plan marching towards completion, the Government has aimed to increase the figure to 10 per cent.

Tourists from India always top the list of foreigners visiting the Himalayan Nation. As of October 2019, a total of 169,952 Indian tourists visited Nepal followed by 134, 28 Chinese Tourists.

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