Congress vows to make tourism the backbone of national economy

Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: The Nepali Congress (NC) has unveiled a detailed pledge on sustainable tourism development with the goal of making tourism sector the mainstay of national economy, employment and entrepreneurship. The party has set a target to attract 3 million tourists annually within next 10 years and increase the contribution of tourism sector to 15-20 percent of GDP.

The NC has resolved to establish Nepal as the best tourism destination of the world by utilizing the natural, cultural and spiritual diversity of Nepal. According to the party, the open sky policy of 1992, environment for investment in private airlines, campaigns like ‘Visit Nepal Year 1998’ and aviation and tourism policy reforms were forwarded at the initiative of the NC. According to the party, the party will pay special attention for the construction of Janakpur-Lumbini-Kathmandu spiritual corridor, development of religious tourism circuit and heritage conservation to strengthen Nepal’s international identity as the land of Buddha, Sagarmatha and ancient civilization.

The NC has come up with a plan to link yoga, meditation, Ayurveda and naturopathy with tourism through the ‘Arogya Nepal’ campaign. The party has pledged to arrange wellness and digital Nomad visa for foreign tourists, establish wellness zones in major destinations and brand Nepal as the ‘spiritual capital of the world’.

The NC has forwarded the policy of developing community homestay, urban homestay programme, construction of cultural village and developing local costumes, food and crafts as a tourism package to link tourism with local employment. Community forests, wetlands and rural areas would be developed as ecotourism centres.

The NC has also planned to establish international study centres in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Lumbini, Janakpur, Muktinath and Karnali regions and connect different cultural sites with the tourism circuit. It also aims to construct Janakpur-Lumbini-Kathmandu spiritual corridor and Buddha-to-Shiva digital corridor to connect religious destinations with road and air networks.

Digital tourism and service improvement

The NC has planned to operate multilingual digital tourism platform, integrated service portal, digital heritage archive and mobile app to modernize tourism services. The pledge also states that a special fund will be set up to encourage youths in digital branding of art and culture.

Cheap air service and aviation improvements

The NC has a plan to make air fare competitive for tourists coming to Nepal, reduce airport fee and fuel surcharge, improve air traffic management and take the Civil Aviation Authority into a separate structure as a service provider and regulator. Likewise, they have also pledged to take diplomatic initiatives to remove Nepal from the European Air Safety List. The party has forwarded the policy of operating Pokhara and Bhairahawa international airports in full capacity, expanding direct flights to the major cities of the world and strengthening the Nepal Airlines Corporation.

International marketing of festivals, folk arts and cuisine

The NC has also planned to prepare an international calendar of Nepali jatras, festivals and cultural festivals, encourage artists and artisans through the National Art Fund and promote culture through the Nepali Embassy in foreign countries.

Similarly, a national guide comprising local dishes from all seven provinces has been prepared for international branding of Nepali flavors, organic agriculture and local products will be linked to the tourism supply chain and the local menu will be promoted in hotels.

Mountain Tourism and Climate Protection

The NC has also pledged to run ‘clean mountainous, safe mountaineering’ campaign in high mountaineering, spend 30 per cent of mountaineering royalty for the conservation of glacial lakes, strengthen search and rescue system and promote environment-friendly tourism infrastructure.

The NC has pledged to link education, employment and participation with tourism and make arrangements for providing concessional loan and tax exemption to youths and women. Claiming that tourism would be the major means of long-term economic transformation of Nepal, the NC has pledged to establish Nepal firmly in the world tourism map through policy reforms, infrastructure development and international promotion.