KATHMANDU: The much-hyped Visit Nepal Year 2020 officially kicked off with excitement amid a special program at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu on Wednesday evening.
The bash witnessed a range of activities such as chanting of mantras, fireworks, cultural procession, VNY 2020 song, and meet-and-greet sessions with mascots from several Nepali communities and regions. And, of course, the formal inaugural ceremony was marked with the lighting of the ‘Flame of Unity’ by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari signifying peace and unity.
The ceremony also saw a short introductory speech by Nepali film star Rajesh Hamal, who talked about Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, the spectacular mountains, serene lakes, wildlife, paragliding, to name a few.
More than this, Hamal, in fact, was right to say that Nepal has more to offer. “It’s also about Nepali people. We, the people of Nepal, take the opportunity to showcase Nepal as a tourist destination.”
In fact, it’s for sure that tourists would definitely take with them the “range of smile” from the Nepali people when they go back home after visiting Nepal – one of the most-visited countries in the world, as Forbes magazine puts it.
The national festival, as what the government has labeled, is being observed — with an aim to bring in over 2 million tourists in the country.
Nepal’s Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation apprised the world about Nepal’s rich diversity, flora and fauna while addressing the inaugural ceremony. He urged foreign tourists to visit time and again.
“The year 2020 is just a beginning,” he claimed, adding that Nepal would continue to witness an increased number of tourists in the years to come.
Likewise, media representatives from over 30 countries — the government of Nepal’s invitees — also joined the extravaganza.
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, all seven provinces of Nepal also organized the inaugural ceremony of the Visit Nepal 2020 on Wednesday.
According to the VNY 2020 Secretariat, the campaign has been 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.
The VNY 2020 would be inaugurated at Nepali Embassies in foreign countries on January 7.
According to the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yogesh Bhattarai, 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.
Comment