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Tibet And Nepal To Promote Himalaya Tourism
By KTM Metro Reporter
July 16,2010: The state-run Chinese news agency called ‘Xinhua’ has reported that Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region will work closely with Nepal to boost the tourism industry in the Himalayan Region. Speaking at the "Welcome to Nepal": a briefing on Nepal tourism in Lhasa, Deputy Chief of Tibet's Tourism Administration Wang Songping said, "To start with, we'll jointly launch day tours along the China-Nepal border.” He has said that both the countries will encourage travel services providers in China and Nepal to work closely to draw more tourists to the Himalayan region and promote package tours in the two countries. He has also said that Nepal had simplified visa procedures for Chinese tourists; and Chinese passport holders taking the direct bus service to Nepal could get visas at land ports in Tibet.
Wang and his Nepalese counterparts are also exploring a cross-Himalayan route passing Kathmandu in Nepal and Tibet's Jilung and Zham. China's three leading airline companies such as China Eastern, China Southern and Air China operate passenger flights to Nepal. Chinese tourist arrivals in Nepal had been growing by 20 percent annually since Nepal became a tourist destination for Chinese citizens in 2001. Tourism authorities in Nepal and Tibet signed a memorandum of understanding on tourism promotion in 2003 and established a joint coordination committee. To date, the committee has held three meetings. The fourth will be held in Lhasa in September.
Speaking at the same program, Consul General of Nepal in Tibet Naindra Upadhaya said that the last year, Nepal received 15,000 Chinese tourists; large numbers of international tourists also visited Tibet by way of Nepal. Upadhaya said that Nepal would draw a million international tourists during the "Nepal Tourism Year" in 2011: a national tourism campaign. He said, "We hope 100,000 of them will be Chinese."
