Lalitpur, May 11:

A meeting between travel agencies, the Lalitpur sub-Metropolitan City (LMC) and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation today concluded that there is a need to bring about reforms in the Durbar Square Area to improve tourism.

“The meeting concluded with the decision to build well-facilitated toilets and manage hawkers in the area,” said Dan Man Shakya, an official at the LMC. He added that existing toilets in the area are not up to the mark and have problems like water scarcity. “Street vendors who occupy the area also need to be confined to a certain space.”

In the current fiscal year, a total of 7468 tourists from SAARC countries visited the area. The government generated Rs Rs 0.18 million from them. Also in the same period, 42,619 tourists from other countries visited the area and the government generated Rs 8.5 million from them.