KATHMANDU: PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference and Mart 2010 got its official launch here yesterday. Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), with support of PATA Nepal, inaugurated the programme that will run till February 5.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said, “Along with the peace process, government is concerned about creating an investment friendly environment to encourage investment in tourism, infrastructure and hydropower sectors.”

Nepal Tourism Year 2011, the year when the country will welcome a million tourists from the world over, would be vital in selling Nepal’s attractions in the international market, said Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), Sharat Singh Bhandari

According to PATA chief executive officer Greg Duffel, tourism sector is a significant contributor to GDP and creator of jobs. Malaysian representative Dr Victory said, “During the recession in Malaysia tourist arrival plunged to 5.5 million in 1995 but with the government’s concern and identification of potential of tourism sector in 2005 the arrival number marked 22.1 million with Singapore as the 11th tourist destination.” He said Malaysia launched several promotional campaigns with different taglines for different destinations which also included one million free tickets to Malaysia. Nepal should also work on the issues of connectivity, service sector and infrastructure.

The PATA event includes Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) endorsing this event. AT & RTCM brings together people involved in adventure and responsible tourism.

The session includes Adventure Travel: Pulse of the Adventure Travellers, Responsible Tourism: The Driving Force, Interactive Plenary Session: Adventure Sports Tourism — Risks and Responsibilities, Interactive Plenary Session: Zero Waste Challenge and the Closing Session: Responsible Tourism.

The PATA conference has participation of 170 delegates from 25 countries.