POKHARA: The ministers in India have started to recommend Pokhara as a destination tourist site to their citizens in line with the 'Chaliye Pokhara' campaign.

The Indian ministers gave such advice in the presence of tourism entrepreneurs of Nepal who had gone to Patna, Banaras and Lucknow of northern India with the six-day promotion campaign.

Tourism Minister of Uttar Pradesh Rita Bahuguna Joshi, in Lucknow, stated that there were a lot of similarities between Nepal and India and suggested the people to visit Nepal before other countries. She also added that the pilgrimage of Indian people would remain incomplete until they visited Pashupatinath in Nepal.

Likewise, lawmaker of Uttar Pradesh Rabindra Jaiswal advised the Indian citizens to visit Pokhara before they visited Singapore, at a programme organised in the religious city of Banaras.

The campaign — which was organised by Paschimanchal Hotel Association, Pokhara in coordination with Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) — saw the participation of hotel entrepreneurs from Pokhara, mediapersons and officials from NTB. It was organised under the Regional Tourism Promotion Campaign given that Pokhara is close to northern India and considered an appropriate destination to escape the heat, informed chair of the association Bikal Tulachan.

Chief of NTB in Gandaki Province, Surya Thapaliya said, India is an important and huge market for Pokhara, adding that if high level Indian officials were to visit the metropolis, it would boost tourism in the area.

According to General Secretary of the association, Ganesh Raj Pahari, the campaign included press meet, business level meetings between Nepali and Indian tourism entrepreneurs, audio-visual displays relating to tourism, and dissemination of promotion materials.

Patna-based tourism entrepreneur, Gaurav Kumar, stated that the interest of Indian people in Nepal had increased after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Muktinath in Nepal.

As per the statistics of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), out of the 940,000 tourists entering Nepal in 2017, 160,832 were Indian nationals.

Chaliye Pokhara campaign had been organised for the first time in 2012.