Envoys raise nation’s tourism promotion bar

KATHMANDU: Newly appointed ambassadors to the US and Canada have big plans to promote Nepal during their tenures in these two countries.

According to Dr Shankar Sharma, Nepali ambassador to the US, and Dr Bhoj Raj Ghimire, ambassador to Canada, they should first devise a framework target and that target will be worked around, but most importantly development in the framework will be looked into in detail.

“We will be looking into all capacities and promotional methods and choose the best and most applicable methods. Whilst travelling the various cities we will look into tying up with local entrepreneurs and other Nepalese living abroad and incite their interest,” added Dr Sharma.

The main motive of these two dignitaries will be to mobilize travel agents who have not been able to sell Nepal as a tourist destination and convince them with various possibilities and promotions that will generate the required interest in tourists to visit Nepal.

“We will also try to generate media hype and convince the western media that Nepal is a safe destination to visit. We will try to eliminate the myth of it being a dangerous place,” said Dr Sharma. Along with all this, he also intends to target celebrities as they are an added attraction and set a trend for other people to visit Nepal.

Nepal Tourism Board as well put forth its suggestions to the two envoys to promote Nepal Tourism Year 2011 in the United States of America and Canada.

“During their tenure, they can help promote tourism by setting up various modules of promotions regarding the country and help generate awareness via various methods as suggested by NTB,” said NTB chief executive officer Prachanda Man Shrestha. Shrestha added that there are various ways to promote Nepal and NTB is looking to do it in a big way with the tag “Naturally Nepal” to keep in tune with tourism markets in Asia.