Kathmandu, March 2

The International Conference on Accessible Adventure (ICAA) 2018 will kick off in Pokhara from March 29.

Organised by the International Development Institute (IDI), in partnership with various other organisations including Nepal

Tourism Board (NTB), the three-day conference basically intends to promote ‘inclusive tourism’ in Nepal for senior citizens across the globe and travellers with disabilities.

“Inclusive tourism is less dealt with and prioritised in Nepal. The conference will give emphasis to promoting international best practices in this segment of tourism in Nepal,” said Suman Timsina, chairman of the conference, adding that the ICAA 2018 will be hosted with the theme of ‘Inspiration and Perspiration’.

According to the organisers, the theme of ICAA 2018 relates to the awareness, planning, commitment and collaboration required among diverse set of tourism stakeholders to make Nepal an accessible adventure capital of Asia.

“ICAA 2018 will be an experiential, business-centric and politically energising exchange of international concepts on accessible tourism and ways Nepal can promote itself in this particular segment of tourism,” informed Timsina.

Addressing a press meet on ICAA 2018 organised in the Capital today, Deepak Raj Joshi, chief executive officer of NTB, said that accessible tourism is a promising segment in tourism industry as the number of travellers with disabilities and seniors in the overall outbound tourists across the globe is significant.

However, Joshi also said that Nepal should prioritise the development of special tourism infrastructure targeting senior tourists and travellers with disabilities to promote accessible or inclusive tourism in Nepal.

Meanwhile, Joshi also informed that NTB is opening a 1.5 kilometre trail in Pokhara targeting travellers with disabilities and promotion of accessible tourism.

As per the schedule, Corporal Hari Budha Magar, a Gurkha-war hero injured by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Afghanistan, will give his keynote speech at the ICAA inauguration. Magar is also leading his ‘Conquering Dreams’ team to scale Mt Everest with the zeal to show the world that any sort of disability and hardship can be overcome.

Magar has postponed the expedition until 2019 after the government introduced a new mountaineering rule banning blind, double-amputee and solo climbers from attempting to climbing peaks, including Mt Everest.

Issuing a statement in January, the expedition team had said that in light of the recent decision and several other later government communiqués, there is a lack of clarity on what this actually means in practice. “Due to this uncertainty, and the very real possibility that we will not get a permit for Hari this year, we have made the decision to postpone the expedition until 2019, subject to clarification of the rules,” statement read.

ICAA organisers claimed that Magar will be the first double above knee amputee to scale up the Everest.

Similarly, the ICAA 2018 will also incorporate panel discussions on a wide range of issues, including

‘Nepal’s Accessible Adventure Challenges’, ‘Customer Voice: What do the accessible tourism customers need?’, ‘How to create accessible tourism products?’ and ‘Worldwide best practices in accessible tourism’, among others.