Alberto Rubio
“Nepal is much more than just mountains,” said the president of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Nandani Lahe Thapa, during the event ‘Connecting Tourism’, organised by ambassador Sarmila Parajuli in Madrid. Nepal, she said, wants to position itself as a tourist destination with a diversified offer “for all ages and possibilities”.
Nandani Lahe Thapa admitted that tourism in “Nepal is a victim of a huge giant, Everest“. However, she added that her country “has much more to offer: from nature to gastronomy, culture, history, spirituality and even a lively nightlife and casinos, because everything is compatible”.
“Nepal is a country of superlatives“, she continued, “because it is a small territory but its altitude ranges from 60 metres to 8,848 metres, 125 ethic groups live there and 123 languages are spoken, there are five completely different climatic zones and 11 national parks.” “It is a living cultural museum,” she said.
In addition, the NTB leader assured that her department has plans to make Nepal one of the best destinations for wellness and health tourism by 2023, in addition to promoting trekking routes “accessible to all” and winter sports. “And all this without forgetting the best thing we have, our people, their friendliness and hospitality”.
Ambassador Sarmila Parajuli underlined her determination to increase the number of Spanish tourists travelling to Nepal by 100,000 per year over the next five years. To this end, she announced that her government, through the Embassy, will launch the ‘Discover Nepal’ campaign targeting the Spanish market, which in 2018 ranked 15th by number of visitors to Nepal (19,000).
At the same time, she said that the Embassy will work to establish direct flights between Spain and Nepal. And she added her desire to strengthen its collaboration with the World Tourism Organisation, to which she is also an ambassador.
During his speech, the president of the Nepal Association of Travel Agents (NATTA), Ramesh Thapa, expressed his satisfaction that this year the number of Nepalese tour operators represented at FITUR has increased to 20, with a “great reception” from visitors to the fair.
Representing the World Tourism Organisation, Wang Shuo said that the organisation’s objective is to “strengthen collaboration with Nepal, one of the most fascinating countries with the greatest potential of the many I have had the privilege of visiting”.
The director of the TVE programme ‘Al Filo de lo Imposible’, Sebastián Álvaro, also gave his testimony about his experiences as a traveller who has visited Nepal on numerous occasions.
