In a bid to promote the historic city of Bhaktapur and its heritage sites for the upcoming Visit Nepal 2020, the Bhaktapur Tourism Development Committee in association with Visit Nepal Year 2020 Secretariat has taken a new initiative to start ‘night heritage walk’ beginning Thursday evening.

The night-walk is the first of the initiatives taken by the tourism development committee in anticipation of the tourism year starting in a few weeks time. The Nepal government is expecting to welcome some two million tourists in the Visit Nepal Year 2020.

“We have chosen Bhaktapur for this new drive because there are many new and unique things to offer the tourists during night time. Gradually, we will be launching this programme in Lalitpur and Kathmandu as well because all of them are historic and cultural cities,” said Deepak Raj Joshi, chief executive officer at the Nepal Tourism Board.

For the night-walk, the committee has especially hired 10 city tour operators who will be informing the visitors regarding the lifestyles of people and their cultural processions. The city hosts numerous cultural activities during the night time.

“This is going to be a hassle-free walk for tourists because during night time there will be less traffic and they will have more time to contemplate. This is going to be a new practice in the tourism sector to attract more tourists,” added Joshi.

Bhaktapur Mayor Sunil Prajapati welcomed the drive terming it a milestone to promote the historic city of Nepal. He said the municipality is working to install street lamps in all the alleys. “We are almost in the last phase of laying stones in each and every alley, this will obviously be helpful for tourists,” said Prajapati.

Officials at the committee say the night heritage walk will help tourists understand the lifestyle and activities of local Newar communities and would help the locals boost their financial status by showcasing and selling local items to foreigners.

Bhaktapur, also known as the ‘city of devotees’ is located in the eastern corner of the Kathmandu Valley and is a stronghold of the Newar community. The city is one among the seven most famous Unesco World Heritage sites in the Valley. The open museum city is known for traditional arts, architecture, wooden craftworks, pottery, culture as well as stone-carved temples dating back to the Malla era.