Pokhara, April 14

Gandaki Province Chief Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung inaugurated the Nepal Visit Year-2020 in Pokhara yesterday.

Chief Minister Gurung inaugurated the visit year amidst a programme organised on the banks of the Phewa Lake.

Nepal Tourism Board Member and Nepal Visit Year-2020 Implementation Committee Member Biplab Poudel said that it was a soft-launch of the Nepal Visit Year-2020.

Earlier, the provincial government had set a target of bringing in two million tourists by 2020 in the budget. At the programme, Chief Minister Gurung claimed that his province contributed 40 per cent to the total tourism industry in the country.

He pledged that the provincial government would lend every possible support to make the visit year successful.

Gurung reminded that his province was marking 2019 as Internal Tourism Year and it would help meet the government target.

At the programme, Minister of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment Bikash Lamsal said construction of infrastructure was important to promote tourism. He added that the federal and provincial governments should focus on developing infrastructure.

Nepal Visit year-2020 Implementation Committee Coordinator Suraj Baidhya expressed confidence that the visit year would create employment opportunities in the province and bring in more investment.