POKHARA: The 37th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Ministers' meeting underway in Pokhara is expected to heighten the lake city's unparalleled reputation of being a haven for local as well as foreign tourists.

This is the first time that the SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting is being held outside the capital city of a host member state.

Pokhara, which does not need any introduction about its beauty, recently went through a slump in the number of visiting tourists following the massive earthquake of last year and the subsequent border blockade imposed by India.

This SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting has revived hopes of opportunity to help Pokhara bounce back, said Chairman of the Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal (REBAN), Pokhara, Gopi Bahadur Bhattarai.

Bhattarai added that the government should make necessary arrangement for the visiting top officials of the SAARC member states to go on sightseeing tours of Pokhara to observe its real beauty. He stressed the government should make maximum utilisation of the opportunity at hand to promote tourism in Nepal and other SAARC countries.

Tourism expert, Nilkantha Sharma, termed the natural infrastructure of Pokhara as an 'unrivalled gift of nature', and said the meeting provided an opportunity for an official promotion of the city in the SAARC member countries.

Pokhara Tourism Council Chairman, Som Thapa, said the SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting ushered in new avenues for promoting tourism.

Nepal Tourism Board former member, Tikaram Sapkota, said the current meeting helped convey a message that such special meetings can take place in Pokhara.

Foreign Ministry's Deputy Chief of Protocol, Rajaram Bartaula, said the government did have plans to take the officials on a sightseeing tour of Pokhara, but lamented the meeting's calendar is full of tight schedules. "We plan to take them on sightseeing tours as far as possible if the time allows," he said.