As part of the move, Paschimanchal Hotel Association and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) jointly organized the Chaliye Pokhara six-day campaign at North Indian cities Patna, Banaras and Lucknow.

The program witnessed a participation of Pokhara hotel entrepreneurs, media persons and NTB officials.

Pokhara a Must-Visit: Ministers
Indian ministers urged citizens from the three cities to visit the Himalayan country before visiting other destinations in the presence of Nepal tourism operators. This is what they had to say!

Speaking at the campaign in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi said that Nepal and India share a lot in common and encouraged citizens to visit Nepal before other countries.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Lawmaker Rabindra Jaiswal advices Indian citizens to visit Pokhara before making a trip to Singapore, during the ‘Chaliye Pokhara’ promotion program in Banaras.

India – A Huge Market for Pokhara
Organized under the Nepal-India Regional Tourism Promotion Campaign (RTPC) banner, the campaign uses Pokhara’s proximity with North India as a tool to lure Indian tourists to the ‘Lake City’ and identifies it as an ideal destination to escape the heat during hot climate, says Bikal Tulachan, Paschimanchal Hotel Association Chairperson.

Similarly, Gandaki Province NTB Chief Surya Thapaliya said that India is an important and huge market for Pokhara  adding that Indian high-level officials’ visit would take the region’s tourism potential to greater heights in Nepal’s Tourism Capital.

The six-day campaign included a press-meet, B2B meetings between Indian and Nepal Tourism companies, audio-visual displays on tourism & distribution of promotional material.

Nepal Tourism Continues Pace
Following are some of the recent statistics that show the growth trajectory of Nepal tourism sector:

• Totally, 65,159 international tourists visited Nepal in June 2018
• Comparison between June 2017 and June 2018 shows visitor increment at 16.4 percent In Nepal
• The arrival figures during January-June 2018 period were recorded at 520,014 as compared with same period in 2017, resulting in a 13 percent increase
• The Indian tourist arrivals in Nepal increased by 18.8 percent in June 2018 as compared with the same period in 2017
• According to NTB statistics, out of the 940,000 tourists who visited Nepal in 2017, 160,832 alone were Indians
• Nepal is expected to cross the 1.2 million-mark in 2018 in terms of tourist arrivals
• The Himalayan country earned a record revenue of Rs 58.52 billion from the tourism industry in foreign exchange in FY 2016-17 according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)

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