The campaign launched by the Western Hotel Association and is being coordinated by the Pokhara Tourism Revitalisation Committee. The committee was formed after the devastating April 25 earthquake that made a severe impact on Pokhara tourism.

“This initiative aims at raising awareness about Nepal and Nepali cities for increasing the flow of tourists,” said Bharat Raj Parajuli, president of the association.

Tourists from India come to Nepal during this time of the year to escape from scorching heat. With the Chinese too visiting, there was no off season in Pokhara. However, things have not remained the same after the earthquake.

The campaign will soon start in Indian cities like Gorakhpur, Lakhnau, Banaras and Kanpur, among others. The campaign will also begin in Chinese cities like Guangzhou, Sanghai, Beijing, Kunming, Hong Kong and Chengdu, among eight other cities.

“We will initiate the campaign by holding an interaction with stakeholders,” Parajuli said, adding though such events were conducted in India in the previous years, such an event is being held for the first time in China.

Nepal’s tourism will get a huge boost if it can attract tourists from India and China — the most populous countries in the world.

“Our main agenda is to give a message that Pokhara, Annapurna as well as Nepal as a whole are safe,” said Ganesh Bahadur Bhattarai, coordinator of the Pokhara Tourism Revitalisation Committee. “Since the majority of the infrastructures is safe and unaffected, we want to publicise that our place is safe to visit.”