UNWTO secretary general to attend NTY 2011 launch

Taleb Rifai, the secretary general of the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), seven SAARC tourism ministers and the secretary of the Cambodian Tourism Ministry have confirmed that they will be attending the inauguration of Nepal Tourism Year 2011.
The NTY 2011 -- scheduled to be launched on January 14 at Dasrath Stadium -- aims one million touists. President Ram Baran Yadav is scheduled to inaugurate the ceremony.
"Tourism ministers from China and Japan have also expressed thei interest to participate in the function, but they have not confirmed," according to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) that is expecting over 28,000 people to participate in the three-hour-long inaugural event.
The government has invited the tourism ministers of 24 Asian countries to the inaugural to strengthen bilateral ties and promote tourism in the region.
SAARC tourism secretaries are scheduled to arrive on January 11. "There will be an extensive joint secretary level meeting of the SAARC Tourism Working Committee on January 12-13 where discussions will focus on the problems and barriers confronting tourism promotion," according to the board.On January 13, the SAARC ministers will endorse the meeting’s declaration and on January 14, NTY 2011 will be inaugurated amid a gala function in Kathmandu.
The SAARC inter-government body will discuss the possibility of joint marketing, softening the visa regime, giving access to cross-border driving licenses, making Indian currency more flexible and increasing inter-SAARC movement by air by the national flag carrier of each country, a government official said.
The NTB has proposed giving a public holiday to government staff on the day. The NTB said that all the districts would organise the NTY 2011 launching programme under the coordination of their respective chief district officers.
Similarly, tourist destinations like Pokhara and Chitwan, among other places, are aggressively preparing for their own special functions.According to the NTB data, Nepal received more than 500,000 tourists in 2009 and the numbers is expected to cross 700,000 in 2010. After a gap of almost 12-years since Nepal celebrated the Visit Nepal 1998, the country's tourism sector is expected to revive with promising tourist arrivals in 2010.
The Maoist-led government had announced the campaign in October 2008. The campaign goal of hosting one million visitors intensifies the prospect to opening up new opportunities for reinvestment and reinvigorated business paralysed for a long time.
Massive investments are being made in refurbishing existing hotels and establishing new ones with NTY 2011 round the corner.The Hotel Himalaya -- a four-star hotel in the Valley -- is upgrading to five-star rating while three new four-star hotels are coming up.
"This is first time such large investments are being made in the hospitality industry after the opening of the Hotel Hyatt Regency a decade ago," the NTB said.Currently, there are 10 five-star hotels including Hotel Radisson, Hotel Everest and Fulbari Resort that are under renewal process; two four-star hotels; 24 three-star hotels; 45 two-star hotels; 36 one-start hotels; 358 tourist standard hotels and resorts making it to a total of 475 licenced by the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation.