Travel News & Updates

Interaction on new tourism products

Nepal Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) on 18 August organized an interaction on new and potential tourism products in the country. On the interaction, Dr Siddhartha Bajra Bajrachara, executive officer of NTNC, made a PowerPoint presentation on tourism potentials in the newly declared Gaurishankar Conservation Area in the Rolwaling Region. "Since the area is a newly developed conservation area, it holds tremendous possibility for tourism development. Apart from breathtaking views of mountain peaks in the Rolwaling range, the reason is famous for glacial lakes like Tso Rolpa and can be developed as corridor for wild species in Sagarmatha National Park," Bajracharya said in his presentation. Gaurishankar Conservation Area covers 2,179 sq km and 22 village development committees in Dolakha, Sindhupalchowk and Solukhumbu districts.

After the presentation, various speakers criticized the government for neglecting Rolwaling region which was the gateway to Mt Everest in the early years.

Similarly, Lal Prasad Gurung, director of Annapurna Conservation Area, made a presentation on Sustainable Tourism Development in the Annapurna Conservation Area. "As the advent of roads is shortening trekking routes in the region, we are identifying and developing alternative routes in coordination with Trekking Agencies' of Association Nepal (TAAN)," he added. Making a presentation on 'Manaslu: A Unique Mountain Tourism Destination', Madhu Chhetri, chief of Manaslu Conservation Area, said new trekking routes like Tsum Valley have been developed in the region to attract more visitors to the region. "Organisations like TAAN have been supporting us to develop new routes in the region," Chhetri added.

Prachanda Man Shrestha, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board, said Nepal nature-based tourism is Npeal's unique selling point and that Nepal has been successfully taking conservation and tourism hand in hand.