Source::
A press meet was organised with the presence of Honourable Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yogesh Bhattarai, and media persons from various news portals on September 21. Tourism Minister Bhattarai started with giving a brief about the contribution of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) percentage of tourism sector of Nepal and overall tourism development related activities that the ministry is conducting. Tourism Minister said, “Tourism sector contributes only 3 per cent on the GDP of Nepal but we aim to increase this percentage to at least 10 per cent till 15th Five Year Plans of Nepal.”
According to the recent records, 11 to 12 lakh tourists have visited Nepal till now, said Tourism Minister Bhattarai. He further said that the ministry is targeting to welcome 20 lakh tourists in the year 2020 and to increase it to 35 lakh till the end of five year plan creating tourism employment as per the statistics. Nepal is equally capable to attract tourists in comparison, as our country has unique culture, diversified nature and geography and many more. But Nepal has a weak infrastructure because of which tourists have to face connectivity problems and this is passing a negative message in international market. That’s why the Tourism Ministry wants to provide an environment where tourists can roam around wherever they want and eat whatever they want.
Tourism Minister Bhattarai said, “Most of the tourists travel through airways while arriving in Nepal. So, we are working on the capacity and repair work of Tribhuvan International Airport and we will finish the work till December for Visit Nepal Year (VNY) 2020. We will also apply the new immigration system with apps for a better service. We will even make the visa application process easier as we are also planning to provide online payment system for visa applicants’ targeting VNY 2020.”
The press meet concluded with a question and answer session within the Minister and media representatives.
