Kathmandu, November 18:

Prithvi Subba Gurung, minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, launched ‘Send Home a Friend’ tourism promotional campaign at a huge gathering of Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs) at the Nepal Embassy in London yesterday.

The campaign is the joint initiative of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation andNTB in association with NRN diaspora in London for boosting tourism in Nepal. The programme was formally announ-ced during the third NRN meet in Kathmandu on October 15-17.

The press release issued by NTB stated that the campaign is aimed at encouraging the NRNs living in UK to send their foreign friends to Nepal, thereby capitalising the promotion of Nepal through ‘Word of Mouth,’ and promoting Nepal among the British and European.

Addressing the gathering, the minister urged NRN community to invest in tourism infrastructure development in potential tourist sites in Nepal which would ‘help diversify tourism products as well as its benefits’.

The newly-appointed Nepali ambassador to UK, Murari Raj Sharma, is learnt to have pledged his ‘support and commitment’ to make the campaign a success.

Prachanda Man Shrestha, the CEO of NTB, made a presentation on the campaign and elaborated on tourism attractions in Nepal and contribution of tourism sector in the national economy. During the interaction, the participants demanded that Nepal Airlines Corp be a ‘strong and efficient’ national flag carrier for effective tourism promotion.

Minister Gurung also felicitated Dhurba KC and Ashok Shrestha, president of NRN Association of the UK.