The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has announced a campaign to boost arrivals from Europe by 30 to 40 percent.

Launching a promotional drive named Visit Nepal-Europe 2017 amid the celebration of its 18th anniversary, the NTB said that the campaign would lay the groundwork for promoting Nepal tourism all over the world in 2018.

“Tourists from Europe have contributed significantly to Nepal`s tourism industry, and we expect to increase arrivals by celebrating 2017 as visit Nepal year for European tourists,” said Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO of the NTB.

He also unveiled plans to seek help from the Nepali diaspora in Europe. Nepalis living in the UK will be urged to put NTB stickers on their cars to publicize Nepal tourism.

Joshi explained that virtual campaigns such as #NepalNOW and Facebook posts had significantly helped the Nepali tourism industry to rebound faster than the national economy after the Gorkha earthquake.  

The NTB plans to launch the European promo from London in March. Talks on mountaineering, send a friend to Nepal campaign, dissemination of tourist information from Nepali restaurants and photo exhibitions on Nepal have been planned under the programme.

“A number of tourism promotion programmes for 2017 have been planned in Ireland, the UK, Switzerland, Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Denmark,” said Deepesh Man Shakya, NTB’s honorary public relations representative in Ireland.

Speaking as the chief guest at the anniversary function, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jeeban Bahadur Shahi pledged his cooperation in the campaign.

Likewise, hotel entrepreneur Karna Sakya said, “Directly or indirectly, the Nepali diaspora has significant potential to help Nepal’s tourism industry, and stakeholders should bring them on board.”