– CB Adhikari
Kathmandu, October 13: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai has expressed his hope that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit beginning today would have its multidimensional impact on the promotion of Nepal’s tourism. The Chinese President’s visit in the context when the arrivals of Chinese tourists have increased yearly would encourage Chinese people to visit Nepal, leading a further rise in the arrivals.
In his exclusive talks with the Rashtriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) in the context of the state visit of Chinese President, Minister Bhattarai noted that the visit by Chinese President after 23 years was obviously a golden opportunity for the promotion of Nepal’s tourism. He said the context was that any policy, programme and authority taken by China emerging as the world’s strong economy and the superpower nation had potential of effecting the world and it was really a matter of pride for Nepal and Nepali that we were welcoming the President from such nation.
“The contribution and role of China in the world’s economy, strategic sector and world’s tourism promotion has reached the decisive phase.” High-level visits (by the Head of the State and Head of the Government) to China are being made on behalf of Nepal, but Nepal had been waiting for this level of visit since years and this is a historic moment for us, according to him. The Minister described tourism as a major pillar of Nepal’s economy said the government had set a target of increasing the contribution of tourism to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) yearly. “At present, the contribution of the tourism sector to GDP is just around three per cent. We (government) have set a target of increasing this figure to 0 per cent by the end of 15th fifth-year plan.”
The Minister added that we expected to see the arrival of at least 500 thousand Chinese tourists during the Nepal Visit Year 2020 announced by the government and Xi’s visit would obviously help to meet the expectation. It may be noted the government has announced to celebrate the year 2020 as the Nepal Visit Year with an objective of welcoming two million tourists. For this, it is necessary to attract tourists from probable big tourism markets including China. The tourist arrivals from China have been increasing each year. In 2018, 160 thousand Chinese people visited Nepal and in the first eight months of the current year, around a 10 per cent rise has been recorded compared to the correspondent period last year.
Statistics show that the Chinese tourists are especially interested to visit Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, Lumbini among the destinations. Nepal is the birthplace of the Buddha. Buddha is highly revered in China. A majority of the Chinese population is Buddhist and it is expected that the number of Chinese tourists will also increase after President Xi’s visit, according to Minister Bhattarai. He said adventure tourism is the most liked choice of the Chinese tourists of late and paragliding is the main attraction for them. More than 60 per cent of the tourists opting for paragliding business, which is mostly operated in Pokhara, comprises of Chinese visitors. It is said the economic condition and the purchasing power of Chinese tourists is improving in recent years. Another important aspect of tourism is easy ‘connectivity’ for the promotion of tourism.
Chinese Airlines is operating direct flights to Nepal from various cities in China, including Kunming, Guangzhou, Lhasa, Chendu and Sichuan. Himalaya Airlines has made preparations to operate flight from Beijing soon. Similarly, as per the bilateral air agreement signed between Nepal and China some months back, air flights would be operated from 15 additional Chinese cities to Nepal. Accordingly, Nepal Airlines, the national flag-carrier, has also made preparations to start flights to Guangzhou and Beijing. This is also expected to increase the number of Chinese visitors to Nepal.
Tourism Minister Bhattarai said various statistics show that annually some 150 million Chinese citizens go to visit various places around the world annually and it would be significant if only a small proportion of this could be brought to Nepal by developing it as an important tourism destination for them. He mentioned that the Chinese side has been providing significant support in the area of civil aviation as well. A Chinese contractor company is constructing the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. This airport is in the final stages of construction. Similarly, the Chinese company has been given the responsibility of constructing the Pokhara Regional International Airport.
A Chinese contractor company is involved in improving and expansion of the Tribhuvan International Airport. The contribution of Chinese is also notable in the post-earthquake reconstruction of cultural heritage in Nepal. The Durbar High School, the Basantapur Nine-storey Palace and the Taleju Temple in Kathmandu and the Seven-storey Palace in Nuwakot are being reconstructed with Chinese support.
“It is found that tourist flow has increased in places which are visited by the Head-of-State or of Government. The number of Indian visitors has increased at Muktinath, Janakpurdham and Pashupatinath after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited these pilgrimage sites. We expect the number of Chinese tourists to reach more than 500 thousand annually from the present number after the visit of the Chinese President. This visit will have multi-dimensional impact in the promotion of tourism in Nepal,” Minister Bhattarai argued.
Tourism Minister Bhattarai said the Government of Nepal, people and the entire country was eagerly waiting to extend a hearty welcome to the Chinese President and the two-day state visit would be a complete success. RSS
