KATHMANDU: Tourism has remained one of Nepal’s vital engines of economic growth.

The government of Nepal has set an ambitious campaign to bring in over 2 million international tourists in 2020 under the Visit Nepal Year 2020 drive with a view to brand Nepal as the world’s major tourist destination.

The Visit Nepal Year 2020 can be an opportunity to showcase Nepal as a unique destination offering adventure, sports, religious tourism, and other exotic socio-cultural experiences.

Nepal is one of the best holiday destinations owing to its amazing multicultural aspects, exotic natural beauty, majestic Himalayan peaks, and varied topographical features.

The Himalayan country, which is also dubbed as an amphitheater for adventure enthusiasts, had in 2018 witnessed a rise of foreign tourists with a total of 1 million 173 thousand 702 visitors, according to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) data.

The government has entrusted Suraj Vaidya, National Coordinator of Visit Nepal 2020, and his team, to fulfill the government’s target.

Vaidya and his team are optimistic to meet the target. “There are positive signs looming,” he said.

The team as well as the government, however, needs to ensure that they delivered a safe, inimitable and flawless experience to the tourists.

The private sector, too, needs to work along with the government and the team on physical and digital infrastructure development to make the mission a success.

Lots need to be done such as maintenance of the roads, hotel rooms, connectivity, air and land service, cleanliness, and controlling pollution to ensure that the tourists do not get into trouble.

According to NTB data, in 2018, India ranked the top with 200,438 tourists visiting Nepal followed by China with 153,602 visitors.

Likewise, the United States was in the third position with 91, 785 tourists, and the United Kingdom fourth with 63,086 visitors.

Vaidya says VN 2020 will definitely be great as Nepal usually attracts three categories of tourists –adventure/sports tourists, religious tourists, and investors from various countries, including India, the US, the UK, China, Japan, among others.