Asia

Visit Nepal Year 2020 – Getting to Know Nepal and its Rich Culture

The Embassy of Nepal has inaugurated the program promoting tourism in Nepal.

January 17th, 2020
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The Embassy of Nepal in Berlin has launched the inauguration program of the Visit Nepal 2020 Year on 7th January, which included presenting Nepal’s rich culture. It was rounded off by artistic dance performances and a traditional concert. The aim is to increase the number of tourists in Nepal to 2 million in 2020.

 

Among the guests of honor and speakers were H.E. Mr. Markus Potzel - Commissioner for South Asia of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, H.E. Mr. Ramesh Prasad Khanal - Ambassador of Nepal to Germany, Mr. Kumar - President of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) and Mr. Dil Gurung - Hon. Public Relations Representative of the Nepal Tourism Board (NRB) in Germany.

Firstly, H.E. Mr. Khanal gave an overview of objectives of the Government of Nepal to declare the year 2020 as the Visit Nepal Year. This current year will be committed to initiate growth in the tourism industry since the sector has a potential to enhance the country’s development with a share of 9% of its GDP.

At closer inspection, the numbers are really astonishing. After being hit by severe earthquakes in 2015, the tourism industry declined by 30% during this year. The natural disaster led to the death of 23,000 people and thousands of victims affected. Since then, the country could recuperate along with the tourism industry. Until 2017, the number of tourists has doubled, from 540,000 in 2015 up to 1,170,000 in 2017 and compared to 2015, the number has even tripled in 2019 with around 1.52 million tourists.

Now the government wants to maintain this trend and aid the process by implementing the Visit Nepal Year 2020 with the aim to have 2 million tourists visit the country in 2020. This is indeed an ambitious goal meaning an increase of 33%. The various speakers therefore addressed the question: Why exactly is Nepal worth a visit?

Illustrating the slogan “Visit Nepal for Lifetime Experiences” of Visit Nepal Year 2020, the event pursued cultural diplomacy of the best kind. Not only the natural beauty of Nepal became obvious after the interesting talks, but also cultural performances could communicate the country’s culture in a lively way.

Nepal is home to four UNESCO listed world heritage sites such as Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha or the Chitwan National Park. Furthermore, eight of the world’s ten highest mountains are located in Nepal along with the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest. This is a dream to mountaineers and nature-lovers. Even adventurous tourists will find what they are looking for, as jungle safaris, bungee jumping and ziplining are all possible. Exploring the country and getting to know the friendly Nepalese people does indeed seem like an enriching, lifetime experience.

The fact that Nepal is a diverse society with 125 ethnic groups communicating in 123 languages is very intriguing. Despite this fragmentation of the Nepalese society, peace and stability characterizes the country. This might be due to effective cultural diplomacy undertaken within the country. 

Finally, the event was rounded off by artistic Nepalese dances and a traditional concert performed by INAS Germany and Ranav/Deep Team as shown in the photo. Illustrating the culture by exchanging traditions, parts of the Nepalese identity and other aspects of culture is truly an important part of cultural diplomacy as it leads to a better understanding and cohesion between countries and with that we wish the project of the Visit Nepal Year 2020 the best of luck!

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Annika Mayer

Berlin Global, News from Berlin