Nepal To Offer Low-Cost Tourism Packages

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has decided to offer plenty of special low-budget packages and open a tourism information centre in Mumbai shortly in a bid to attract Indian tourists.

NTB's chief executive officer Pradeep Raj Pandey told reporters here yesterday that NTB also planned to open information centres in major tourist generating countries.

Seeking to allay apprehensions regarding security of Indian tourists in the Himalayan kingdom, he said, "Security can always be improved and it has been improved (since the hijacking of the Indian airlines aircraft in December last year)."

On Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) activities, he said there was no question of allowing terrorists to act against any country from Nepal.

 

Announcing a new tourism policy of Nepal, he said its thrust was on encouraging foreign investment in hotels, resorts and other areas requiring heavy investment or technology transfer.

"The new policy, which liberalises foreign participation in our tourist industry, is designed to promote economic development through a vibrant tourism industry," he explained.

He said another highlight of the policy was to promote tourism in rural areas and introduce the concept of `village tourism' where tourists would stay in villages to have a first-hand feel of the countryside.

The media interaction, held as part of the biggest ever marketing promotions in India, was also addressed by the Hotel Association of Nepal secretary Ajaya Sthapit and Nepal Association of Travel Agents president Bhola Bikram Thapa.