Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 27:

In a ground-breaking sub-regional cooperation initiative, governments of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal have together launched a coordinated tourism marketing programme to promote the sub-region’s ‘nature, culture, adventure’ and ‘Buddhist heartland’ tourism attractions.

The heads of tourism of the four governments jointly unveiled two attractive brochures, a series of six posters, a CD booklet, and the new website www.visitsouthasia.org, in a ceremony held in New Delhi, last week. A sub-regional calendar of events poster featuring festivals and special events is also part of the promotional collection.

“This is the first jointly funded tourism campaign of its kind in the sub-region, and we are proud to be leading it,” said Amitabh Kant, Indian joint secretary of tourism.

“The brochures target the private tourism industry and highlight eco-tourism and Buddhist heritage products in which our sub-region excels. We want to prove that by working together in joint marketing, the four participating countries can make the whole greater than the sum of the parts,” he added.

The coordinated tourism marketing campaign is the brainchild of the Tourism Working Group established under the Asian Development Bank’s South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Programme.

Nepal Tourism Board, National Tourism Organisation-Bangladesh, Department of Tourism, India and Department of Tourism-Bhutan are the coordinating organisations for the respective countries of SASEC programme.