Tourist Police has opened a tourist information centre in Thamel, Kathmandu, to assist foreign visitors with various services.

As the government is planning to mark 2020 as Visit Nepal Year by bringing in two million tourists to the country, officials expect the information centre at Kathmandu’s tourist district to be of great help to foreign holidaymakers.

Dandu Raj Ghimire, director general of the Department of Tourism, inaugurated the facility based at the office building of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward 26 on Wednesday.

“The tourist information centre will relieve the tourists from the trouble of visiting the Tourist Police Head Office in Bhrikutimandap for services such as complaint registration and visa renewal,” Ghimire said.

According to him, around 90 percent of tourists visiting Kathmandu go to Thamel at least once, making it the most-visited tourist spot and an ideal location for a tourist information office.

The Department of Tourism and Nepal Tourism Board had invested
Rs 1 million to set up the three-room office.

Amrit Bahadur Basnet, chief of the Tourist Police Head Office, said the tourist information centre for now will be staffed by 11 people, under Sub-inspector Madan Raj Upadhaya, and will be open throughout the week from 6am to 8pm.

“We are planning to add three more rooms and increase our staff numbers to start round the clock services in the near future,” said Basnet.

The staff of the tourist information centre will also work closely with Nepal Police to oversee the security in Thamel.

The Department of Tourism and Nepal Tourism Board has installed 40 CCTV cameras throughout Thamel, with their monitoring station based at the tourist information centre.

Tourist-friendly app launched

Nepal Police has launched a mobile application that will assist its users with a range of services such as online complaint registration and traffic notification.

Deputy Inspector General of Nepal Police Shailesh Thapa Kshetri launched the Traffic Police App as part of the inaugural programme of the tourist information centre in Thamel on Wednesday.

The app will also have information about the works of Tourist Police, location details of nearby police offices, and emergency contact number.

The app can run on both Android and iOS platforms, and will be available for download shortly.