KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 6

The Second International Sustainable Mountain Development and Tourism Conference commenced today in Pokhara with more than 100 participants.

The three-day event is jointly being organised by Kathmandu University and Hokkaido University of Japan, hosted by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

The conference boasts a comprehensive agenda, including over 70 technical discussions and keynote presentations by distinguished scientists and academicians from India, China, USA, UK, Japan, Vietnam, Spain, Chile, Poland and Nepal.

These discussions primarily focus on various aspects of mountain tourism.

During the inaugural programme, representatives of the government of India, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, and Professor Bishwojit Roy Chaudhari, emphasised the shared heritage of mountains and rivers. Chairman of Pokhara Tourism Council Pom Narayan Shrestha praised the organisers for selecting Pokhara as the conference venue, addressing critical issues of sustainability in the tourism industry and foreseeing that the programme would promote Pokhara as a premier MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) destination.

NTB CEO Dhananjay Regmi emphasised that the conference serves as an ideal platform to discuss and share insights on the challenges and best practices in sustainable mountain tourism on a global scale.

Notable keynote speakers, Professor Martin Price and Professor Teiji Watanabe delivered presentations on 'Mountains on global agendas: 5-decade perspective' and 'Regenerative tourism: Case study Daisetsuzan National Park', respectively.

The first day of the conference featured technical sessions, primarily focusing on 'Geo-conservation, geopark, and geo-tourism'. Parallel sessions delved into topics such as 'Ensuring provision of sustainable recreational use in mountainous protected areas', 'Geodiversity and connectivity in mountain rivers with high-definition surface data', among others.

A version of this article appears in the print on October 7, 2023, of The Himalayan Times