KATHMANDU, MARCH 21

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), in a bid to promote tourist destinations of eastern region and attract Indian tourists, is set to organise the 'Eastern Tourism Mart' (ETM).

Organising a press meet here today, NTB informed about the event that is being held on March 25 for three days in Dharan in coordination with the Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City.

The three-day event is facilitating business-to-business meetings between tourism and hospitality of Nepal and India where Indian tour operators will discuss with Nepali tourism entrepreneurs representatives from 14 districts of Province 1 about promotion of tour packages, said ETM coordinator Bhabesh Kumar Shrestha.

According to Shrestha, the event will act as connectivity among tourism entrepreneurs of Nepal and India, which will boost the tourism of Nepal.

'All invited tourism entrepreneurs of Nepal and India will be part of FAM where they will observe touristic places like Illam, Bhedetar, and prominent hotels and relish local cuisines of eastern region.'

NTB, aiming to revive the COVID-battered tourism of Nepal, has included the 'Regional Travel Mart' in its policy and activities of current fiscal year 2021-22.

However, the event which was supposed to commence in the beginning of the fiscal has to be postponed for several months due to COVID pandemic, said the CEO of NTB Dhananjay Regmi.

'We only have two months left to conclude the mart. But we'll try our best to host the mart across Nepal as far as possible,' said Regmi.

Prior to this, the threeday event titled 'Western Travel Mart' which started from March 7 in Nepalgunj concluded with fanfare. According to Regmi, 51 tourism entrepreneurs from India attended the event, in saw business of around Rs 30 million within the three days.

Moreover, he also informed that with the help of those Indian tour operators, the hotels had received the bookings from 750 people worth Rs 60 million.

Likewsie, the NTB is planning to promote the far-west by branding 'Beautiful Farwest: Sukla to Api Saipal in Farwest Travel Mart from April 8 to 10 in Dhangadi

A version of this article appears in the print on March 22, 2022, of The Himalayan Times