Aug 30, 2007

Everest Summiteers To Be Appointed As Liaison Officers

The government has decided to give Everest summiteers the responsibility as liaison officers of the expedition teams.

The new provision will be implemented from the upcoming autumn, according to high level sources at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA). 

The sources said that those interested to take up the responsibilities of liaison officers must be School Leaving Certificate (SLC) graduate. 

The new liaison officers will be entrusted with the responsibilities and facilities as the government employees used to receive as liaison offers, the sources said.

The ministry is working on necessary legal provisions in this regard.

Aug 29, 2007

CSA to add one more flight to Kathmandu

Encouraged by the increased flow of passengers, China Southern Airlines (CSA) is all set to increase one more flight on Guangzhou-Kathmandu sector from September 5, 2007.

CSA, which is considered the largest air company in China, will operate its flights on this route on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, according to a press release issued by the carrier. 

"Considering the growing demand and passengers' pressure, CSA will use 200-seater Boeing 757 aircraft," states the press release.

The Chinese flagship has been operating two weekly flights between Guangzhou, a major commercial hub of China, and Kathmandu since February 5 this year. With the start of its services, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Nepal has been growing considerably.

 CSA has good network worldwide with its over 300 aircraft in its fleet.

 Some more online foreign international airlines such as Thai Airways International Limited, Qatar Airways, Air Arabia and Korean Air have also applied for increasing their flights to Kathmandu.

Meanwhile, Nepal is working out plans to review Air services Agreement (ASA) with Singapore and Malaysia in the near future.

Sources at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) said that the officials of Nepal and Singapore are going to meet in Singapore on August 30 and 31 this year. 

Similarly, Nepal and Malaysia are scheduled to hold a meeting regarding reviewing of ASA in Kathmandu during the third week of September this year.

Aug 3, 2007

Tourist Arrivals Up By 25% In July

The number of tourists, who entered Nepal by air in the month of July 2007, increased by 25 percent as compared to the arrival figures of the same month of last year.  

A total of 2, 6078 foreign tourists visited the country during the month, according to a press release issued by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). 

Arrivals from the European countries registered a healthy growth of 45 percent. The number of tourists coming from the United Kingdom increased by increased by 30.8 percent. Similarly, arrivals from Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium went up by 33.4 percent, 65.7 percent, 65.8 percent, 21.6 percent and 75.1 percent respectively.  

However, arrivals from Austria and Norway declined 34.2 percent and 21.2 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, the trend of visitor arrivals from the Australian and American markets also remained very encouraging. Arrivals from Australia rose by 53.9 percent, while the American market increased by 82.9.

The emerging regional tourist generating markets such as China, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand recorded upward trend. Arrivals from Korean and China registered an overwhelming increase of 180.4 percent and 90 percent respectively.  The Korean market and Chinese market contributed 4 percent and 3.8 percent respectively to the total arrivals. 

But arrivals from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka went down by 4.4 percent, 7.6 percent and 8.8 percent respectively. However, the Bangladeshi market grew by 94.8 percent.  

Until the end of July this year, a total of 193,211 tourists have visited Nepal. This figure is about 35.6 percent growth in comparison with the arrivals of the corresponding period of 2006.