Tourism Minister Pandey directs NTB to increase international tourism and enhance digital marketing effectiveness

KATHMANDU, Dec 31:Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Prasad Pandey has said that the government is working towards a policy transformation to guide Nepal's overall tourism.

On the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the Nepal Tourism Board, Minister Pandey said that a tourism-friendly policy is necessary for tourism development and the government's new tourism policy is being prepared keeping this in mind.

He said that a new tourism policy will be released soon. He directed the Tourism Board to adopt the concept of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and effectively advance international promotion programs and emphasize digital marketing.

'Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multilingual, multi-religious, multicultural and geographically diverse country. The need of the day is to develop and expand the tourism sector by preserving unity, tolerance and harmony amidst this diversity,' said Minister Pandey. 'Nepal has its own original tourism product. It needs to be widely promoted in the international market.'

Minister of State for Tourism Arun Kumar Chaudhary said that Nepal's economic development can be achieved through the development and expansion of the tourism industry. He said that cooperation of all stakeholders is necessary for this.

Nepal Tourism Board Chairman and Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism Dr. Ganesh Prasad Pandey said that the board should emphasize on infrastructure development, extensive use of technology, and development of human resources required for tourism.

NTB  Member Rishi Bhandari said that for this, the tourism board, which has the main responsibility of tourism promotion, should be made dynamic by taking all stakeholders along with it.

Board Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Deepak Raj Joshi expressed the view that Nepal's tourist arrival is gradually returning to normal and that the coming days will be more golden in tourism.

He informed that 97 percent 'recovery' has been seen in the global environment after Covid and 1.15 million tourists visited Nepal in 11 months of 2024, indicating that Nepal has also seen a 96 percent recovery after Covid.

NTB ' Organization Chairman Kundan Mishra urged the organization to initiate necessary policy reforms for internal strengthening of the organization.

The program included the release of the board's annual mouthpiece 'Infocus', and awards and certificates were presented to the winners and runners-up of various sports programs organized on the occasion of the anniversary.