Nepal hopes to double arrivals by 2011

Nepal Tourism Board announced , yesterday, it will host Nepal Tourism Year in 2011, targeting at least 1 million international visitors.

Introduced at a press briefing, 1 September, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sharat Singha Bhandari, said he hoped the special year would help the country to lift arrivals from the current 500,000 to 1 million.

He was leading a team of Nepalese travel executives on a regional sales mission to promote the  tourism year. The team will travel to Beijing and Hong Kong later this week.

The campaign will focus on marketing and promotional activities in regional and emerging markets. The declaration of a tourism year is part of the government’s effort to prioritise tourism in national recovery plans and encourage foreign investors.

Hotel Association of Nepal president, Prasidha Panday, said NTB decided to launch the promotion in Bangkok as it was an important gateway for Nepal and Thailand played a key role in distributing travellers to destinations in Asia.

NTB chief executive officer, Prachanda Man Shrestha, added that NTB hoped to improve its balance in market share. It targets a 45% market share from North America and East Asia.

Southeast Asia should represent 30% and emerging market such as the Middle East 25%.  At present, India is the dominant supplier of travellers followed by Europe.

NTB’s Thailand representative,  Bangkok and Express International Travel president, Sutham Sachaphimukh, believes the Thai outbound market to Nepal will recover for the winter season. The company already witnessed improved forward booking trends in the local market from October through to next March.

Meanwhile, Royal Nepal Airline will increase its Bangkok – Kathmandu services  during the high season,  from the present two services to three a week, using a Boeing 757.  Thai Airways International already offers 10 flights a week using a Boeing 777.