Kathmandu, May 16:

The second edition of NATTA Himalayan International Travel Mart was successfully held in Kathmandu, Nepal from May 11 to 13 in full cooperation of Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation and Nepal Tourism Board, states a press release issued here today by NATTA.

The Mart was inaugurated by the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Prithvi Subba Gurung during a ceremony on May 11 at Birendra International Convention Center (BICC).

The ceremony was graced by high-level foreign delegates including president of Indian Association of Tour Operators Subas Goyal, deputy governor of Travel Association of Thailand (TAT) Juthaporn Rerngronasa, vice-president of Hong Kong Association of Travel Agents (HATA) Paul Leung and immediate past president of Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Tunku Iskandar among others.

Tunku Iskandar made a key-note speech on this year’s theme, which was ‘Tourism: Prosperity for Posterity’. The NATTA Himalayan International Travel Mart had 30 stalls showcasing different products of Nepal. China, Thailand and Malaysia too had put on display their products during the three-day event.

The NATTA convention was held on the first day where Tou-rism secretary Madhav Ghimire was the chief guest. On the occasion, former vice-chairman of National Planning Commission Dr Shanker Sharma ma-de a presentation on ‘Promoting Paradise and Alleviating Poverty: Strategy for Tourism Development in Nepal’. Former deputy governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and former tourism secretary Deependra Purush Dhakal, officiating CEO Subash Niroula of NTB, and former MD of Nepal Airlines Corporation Mohan Khanal commented on the paper.

During the event, tourism secretary also released a book titled ‘Nepalese Tourism: The Challenges’ written by a long time travel writer Raman Grandon.

The B2B session took place on the second day of the event at Soaltee Hotel, where the delegates from over six countries including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Egypt, China and Hong Kong actively took interest on Nepal’s products.