KATHMANDU: Nepal has the possibility and potential to replicate the success that Malaysia achieved because of its vast tourism resources and attractions including spiritualism and Buddhism, said Malaysian Tourism Promotional Board chairman Datuk Dr Victor Wee here today.

Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) Sharat Singh Bhandari, Dr Wee, Nepal Tourism Board chief executive officer Prachanda Man Shrestha and National Programme Implementation Committee of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY)-2011 national coordinator Yogendra Shakya called on Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to brief him about the success story of Malaysian tourism and bring him abreast of Nepal Tourism Year 2011’s activities.

The team briefed Prime Minister Nepal about the success of Malaysian tourism along with the possibilities of Nepal achieving the same goal. According to Dr Wee, behind the success of Malaysian Tourism Year 2007 was the commitment and endorsement from all sectors. “All cabinet ministers of Nepal should make a firm commitment to make Nepal Tourism Year 2011 successful,” he advised. “Since long haul market are quite unpredictable, Nepal should concentrate on bringing more tourists from regional markets. Priority should be given to airport infrastructure, management and operations,” he said.

As Malaysia has experience in developing regional airports in South Asia, its experience can be useful for Nepal too, he said. “The Malaysian model of homestay could be suitable for Nepal and we are ready to train Nepali manpower for this purpose,” he added. Dr. Wee has been invited as guest of honour to the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference and Mart 2010. NTB CEO Shrestha and coordinator Shakya apprised the PM about the launch of Nepal Tourism Year-2011 and requested his full support to make it successful.

PM Nepal said that the government has always given high priority to the tourism industry. The Malaysian experience would be useful to the country for making NTY-2011 a success, he said. He assured that the government would extend all support to make NTY-2011 successful.