KATHMANDU: The wait is over. It’s January 1, 2020. With the beginning of a new year, and of course, the end of a decade, the government of Nepal is formally inaugurating Visit Nepal 2020, an ambitious campaign of bringing in over 2 million tourists, today.

As part of its decision to celebrate Visit Nepal 2020 as a national festival, President Bidya Devi Bhandari is scheduled to inaugurate the ceremony amid a special program at the Dasrath Stadium at 4 pm in Kathmandu today.

Prime Minister K P Oli is also scheduled to address the program.

The government of Nepal has invited tourism ministers of 10 countries, including India, China, Myanmar, Jamaica, Bangladesh, European countries, and delegates of over 20 countries on the inaugural ceremony to be marked by various cultural programs and a march past.

Likewise, media representatives from over 30 countries have also been invited to cover the event. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), which is responsible for managing the visit of the journalists, arrangements have also been made for taking foreign journalists on a three to five days visit to important tourist destinations of the country.

Meanwhile, the ceremony would be inaugurated in all seven provinces of Nepal simultaneously. According to the Secretariat, the campaign would be inaugurated at the stadium of Biratnagar in Province-1, Janaki Temple premises in Province-2, Sauraha of Chitwan in Province-3, Lakeside of Pokhara in Gandaki State, Thakurdwar of Bardiya in Province-5, Surkhet’s Bulbul Lake in Karnali Province and Dhangadhi of the Sudurpaschim Province.

Likewise, the VN 2020 would be inaugurated at Nepali Embassies in foreign countries on January 7.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yogesh Bhattarai has said that one of the main objectives of organizing the VNY 2020 is to make the world know that Nepal is one of the popular tourist destinations as well as informing the investors that Nepal is a suitable country for investment.

Meanwhile, the government would also mark the decade as a tourism decade in a bid to uplift the nation’s economic growth through tourism.