KATHMANDU: To mark the first ascent of the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest on May 29, 1953 by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary and pay tribute to mountaineering heroes for their historic contribution to humanity, Nepal Tou-rism Board (NTB) and government today announced its programmes and activities for celebrating, International Mount Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) Day.

International Mount Sagarmatha Day is being organised with a number of programmes inside and outside Nepal, to disseminate the message across the world that Nepal is the hub of not only mountaineering expeditions but also the locus of adventure activities in the world.

“The government and NTB in association with various tourism associations and stakeholders of tourism are jointly organising different programmes for May 29. This is the second time that International Sagarmatha Day will be commemorated,” said Prachanda Man Shrestha, CEO of NTB.

Objectives of the event are to remember the first climbers’ heroic achievement, promote Nepal as a world class adventure tourism destination, create awareness about the importance of mountains for the livelihood of people here, maximize the involvement of all stakeholders for their respective roles in preserving the mountain environment and help to preserve Sagarmatha region as an icon of Nepal.

Everest Day will be celebrated along with tourism entrepreneurs’ rally and tourism meets. During the celebration, people related to tourism business will also be awarded cash prize of Rs 1 lakh by the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation and Rs 50,000 Tenzing-Hillary prize. It will also be celebrated abroad.