Nepal's tourism minister promises efforts to make country preferred mountain, spiritual destination

Kathmandu, Jun 3 (PTI) Nepal’s Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Badri Prasad Pandey on Tuesday said the government will make all efforts to make the country a preferred mountain and spiritual travel destination.

“As mountains represent our spiritual and geographical heart, we need to conserve it for the future generation by focusing our attention to reduce the impacts of climate change,” Pandey said while inaugurating the three-day Himalayan Travel Mart and Conference with the theme “Mountains, Milestones and Momentum” here.

A host of speakers, including tourism entrepreneurs, travel writers, tourism consultants, media personalities and conservationists on the occasion underscored the need for Nepal to focus on new avenues of tourism sector such as wellness tourism, spiritual tourism and luxury business.

Hotelier and conservationist Karna Shakya said, “While promoting tourism business we should also focus on conservation of ecology, environment as well as cultural heritage so as to keep tourism alive for the generations to come.” The travel mart also featured panel discussions on various subjects, including “cross-sector synergies for sustainable tourism growth”, “cultural intelligence in the global hospitality industry”, and “redefining travel assistance in adventuresome destinations: Global insights and cost effective strategies for Nepal”.

More than 250 delegates participated in the travel mart, including 60 plus buyers from 20 countries across the globe.

The three-day event organised by Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal attracted travel entrepreneurs from Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. PTI SBP GSP GSP