Nepal is going all out to attract Australian tourists, aiming to boost Australian visitation by 200% over the next three years to reach 100,000 Australian tourists by 2020.
Last year, 33,371 Australians visited Nepal, according to Nepal Government figures, an increase of 141% over the nine years since 2008.
2020 has been designated ‘Visit Nepal Year’, with the country’s tourism authorities aiming to attract 2 million tourists in that year.
Government of Nepal expert and adviser, Laxman Gautam, told a gathering of travel journalists in Sydney yesterday that everything in Nepal had settled down and the country was getting fully into the business of attracting tourists. Representatives of the Nepal Tourism Board and the Hotel Association of Nepal are in Australia for a series of three travel agent sales missions.
Anzac Day this year marked exactly three years since a devastating earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, ripped through Nepal. It was followed two weeks later by another quake with a magnitude of 7.3. The two killed nearly 9000 people, injured 22,000 and left several million people without homes.
The disaster also had a serious impact on tourism, with local guides throughout Nepal being out of work for up to seven months after the quake, even in areas far from the earthquake damage.
The country is now back on its feet and keen for more tourists – repeat visitors as well as first timers.
Danphe or Himalayan monal, national bird of Nepal
“We have settled all issues that were outstanding in the past,” Gautam said.
He said the country’s new tourism slogan was ‘Naturally Nepal. Once is not enough!’ He referred to one tourist in his 70s who had visited Nepal 93 times and is keen to return. The country also wants to attract new tourists and to tell them about the real Nepal.
“Some people refer to Nepal as the land of mountains and consider that there is nothing there but mountains. That is just not true!” Gautam declared.
Kumari, the Living Goddess
He said Nepal, a landlocked nation between India and China, has 133 languages and dialects. Its population is about 29 million. It has Mount Everest, but it also has big lush subtropical rainforest areas. Not that there’s any shortage of mountains – there are 3809 peaks over 5500 metres high and nine peaks over 8000 metes high.
Nepal also has the world’s only living goddess: Kumari, or Kumari Devi. The Living Goddess is worshipped as a manifestation of the divine female energy or devi in Hindu religious tradition. The word Kumari is derived from the Sanskrit Kaumarya, meaning “princess”.
The country has the one-horned rhino, spectacular rhododendron displays and the extraordinary danphe or Himalayan monal, the national bird of Nepal.
Government of Nepal expert and adviser, Laxman Gautam, in Sydey yesterday
Gautam said every state in Australia had a Nepalese consulate so obtaining a visa was easy – or Australians could choose to obtain a visa on arrival. There were numerous air links between the two countries and even discussions of setting up a direct air service, he said.
Visit Nepal Year was originally planned for 2018 but was deferred so work on airports, heritage sites and roads could be completed.
The major source countries of tourists to Nepal are India, China, the US, Britain and Sri Lanka.
Written by Peter Needham
.jpg){kind=tracking}
