Addressing the 32nd annual general meeting of Trekking Agencies´ Association of Nepal (TAAN) in Kathmandu Tuesday, Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation said the process to demarcate the trail and publish it in the gazette had begun.[break]
“We are also working on to develop new trekking trails during the year-long tourism promotional campaign,” Thapa added.
Inaugurating the meeting, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said the government has started groundwork to make the year 2011 a banda-free year. “Our primary focus is on making tourists´ stay in Nepal comfortable and developing necessary infrastructure to cater to their needs,” he said.
Highlighting the role of the private sector for the success of NTY campaign, the PM informed that Nepali diplomatic missions across the world were launching different programs as a part of promoting the campaign in international arena.
“Adventure activities have already remained our major attractions. We will leave no stone unturned to promote adventure activities like trekking, rafting, mountaineering, paragliding and sky-diving, among others. We need to develop attractive packages to draw more international tourists,” he added.
Stating that increment in tourist arrival by 20 percent is a good sign, Yogendra Shakya, the coordinator of NTY 2011 campaign, said there is chance of recording even bigger growth if the political situation became stable.
TAAN President Sitaram Sapakota suggested the government to reduce royalty for mountaineering expeditions to further promote mountain tourism in the country. “If peaks below 6,000 meters are recognized as trekking peak, the trekking business is expected to grow further,” he added.
TAAN is the largest tourism association in the country with a total of 724 trekking agencies under its umbrella.
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