Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 16:

The Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO), a private sector body of destination management companies of Nepal, participated at the world’s largest tourism fair, ITB Berlin-2005, held from March 11 to 15 in Germany.

Nepal’s participation at the fair is primarily aimed at rebuilding the lost tourism image of Nepal and regaining the confidence of international travellers, who are willing to come to the Himalayan kingdom, says a press release issued by NATO.

NATO tried to convince visitors to the Nepal stand that there is no threat of insurgency to tourists in Nepal as being portrayed in news reports carried by international media. Basant Raj Mishra, president of NATO, said that the message we tried to put across in Berlin was, “The insurgency in Nepal has never directly or indirectly threatened the

well-being of tourists and in fact insurgents have been on record of stating that tourists are not their targets”.