VNY to be inaugurated from Dasharath Stadium

Kathmandu, November 25

The Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign will be inaugurated from the Dasharath Stadium on January 1.

Addressing the fifth meeting of the main organisation committee of the VNY campaign today, Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai announced that the campaign will be inaugurated from the Dasharath Stadium, which is currently under maintenance for the upcoming 2019 South Asian Games.

According to him, the inaugural ceremony will be attended by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli along with ministers, chief ministers of seven provinces, national and international diplomats, tourism ministers from 40 countries, chiefs of international airline companies, as well as other foreign delegates and media personnel.

The meeting also took a decision to include 15 other organisations in the main organisation committee for the effective implementation of the plans set for VNY.

The fifth meeting has further decided to celebrate the inaugural ceremony for two days — December 31 and January 1. On the pre-event day — December 31 — street festivals will be organised in Thamel, while pictures of different tourist locations of the country will be displayed on Ghantaghar through hightech light projector.

Similarly, to commemorate the event the main organising committee will light 2020 lamps at Swoyambhunath, Pashupatinath, Janakpur, Boudhanath Stupa and Lumbini.

Meanwhile, blank maps of the country will be posted at different places across the country where the public can write the name of the place they are planning to visit in 2020.

Then on January 1 several events will be organised across the country. As per the committee, 108 conch-shells will be blown together at Pashupatinath and monks will organise a chanting session at Swoyambhunath in the morning.

Meanwhile, tourists travelling to Nepal will receive surprise gifts at Tribhuvan International Airport, while welcome souvenirs will be provided to tourists at domestic airports across the country.

During the meeting, Minister Bhattarai asked all tourism organisations and associations to submit their one-year plan for VNY 2020 within a week. He also requested the stakeholders to come up with attractive packages for tourists during the campaign period.

He further said that to attract tourists in 2020 the government will ease entrance fee for tourists in different destinations across the country. Likewise, to encourage mountaineers to attempt virgin peaks, the government will arrange different packages and royalty discounts for the climbers.

The meeting also decided to provide language and behavioural training to 1,000 taxi drivers in the valley. Speaking at the meeting, Suraj Vaidya, coordinator of VNY campaign committee, said the events being prepared for VNY will not only target the year 2020 but will be effective even after that.