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Kathmandu Monday October 22, 2001 Kartik 06, 2058.
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Programme on tourism held
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Oct 21 - At a time when the inflow of
Indian tourists is on the wane for the past two years, an interaction programme to
encourage visits by Indian tourists to Nepal was organised here today.
Participants at the "Conference and
Interaction on Tourism Promotion between Nepal and India" pointed out the need to
boost up the confidence of the Indian tourists.
P K Thungen, former Indian Minister said that
there is a need to solve the misunderstanding between the two sides. "The Kandhahar
episode has now come to normalcy and with this the inflow of the Indian would
increase," he assured.
Expressing the importance of the religious
relationship between two neighbours, Rajeshwor Painuly, Advisor to Chief Minister of the
Indian state of Uttaranchal, said, "A joint religious travel package can be formed
covering the religious places of both the countries."
He added that the same package can be used to
cover the holy sites of Badrinath and Kedarnath in India with Pashupatinath in Kathmandu,
Nepal.
Sardar Buta Singh, former Indian Home Minister
pointed out the lingual affection between both the countries and said, "Nepal is the
holiest land for the Indians and most Indians seek to visit Nepal once in their life
time."
He also assured the Nepali counterparts that the
problems that has cause a downturn in the inflow of Indian tourists would be put on Indian
Parliament and also with the Indian Government.
Tourism entrepreneurs earlier had pointed that
inflow of Indian tourists has been low due to the identification problems at the Tribhuvan
International Airport, the less than required flight arrangements with the Indian cities
and the negative publicity by the Indian media.
Addressing the same programme, Minister for
Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Bal Bahadur KC said that there is a need for strong
efforts to revive the tourism sector that is passing through difficult times.
KC also announced that the government is
planning to felicitate all the Everest conquerors to promote Nepal as a tourism
destination. He also informed that the ministry is planning to invite tour operators from
around the globe to expose the Nepali tourism destinations.
Pradeep Raj Pandey, Chief Executive Officer at
the Nepal Tourism Board, Ram Bahadur Gurung, former State Minister, Sarbadhan Rai,
Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Mani Lama, former minister,
Nirmala Despande, General Secretary, Indian Nepal Human Development and Friendship
Association also spoke at the programme.
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