Agreement between Tibet and Nepal for Promotion of mutual Tourism

Third Joint Coordination Committee Meeting was held in Kathmandu on November 8th and 9th with an endeavor of promoting tourism between Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region. The meeting held is pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding signed in August 2003 between the Nepal Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation and Tibet Tourism Bureau.

The Nepalese delegation was led by Mr. Murari Bahadur Karki, Joint Secretary, the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Chinese delegation was led by Mr. Wang Songping, Deputy Director General of Tibet Regional Tourism Bureau.
On the meeting, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and the tourism bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region of China signed an agreement to help in promotion of mutual tourism. Murari Bahadur Karki, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation expressed is optimism that the event would sort out the subsisting issues on tourism between Nepal and Tibet and also further strengthen mutual cooperation.
Wang Songping, Deputy Director General of Tibet Regional Tourism Bureau, while expressing his gratitude to the Nepalese wished for the success of the meeting and also for the success of Nepal Tourism Year 2011.
During the meeting, various issues of mutual concern were discussed and the two sides signed cooperation agreements on:

•    Operation of Kathmandu – Lhasa – Kathmandu flight by a designated Nepali Airline.
•    Operation of Canton- Lhasa – Kathmandu flight by Chinese Airlines.
•    Promotion of Joint Rafting Industry by the private sector of both sides.
•    Developing an action plan to establish a Trekking Trail from Lomanthang to Mansarovar.
•    NATTA of Nepal and TTA of China/ Tibet to hold meeting and share the issues related for the promotion of tourism.

While Nepal is preparing for Nepal Tourism Year 2011, the cooperative agreement has been evaluated very optimistically by tourism entrepreneurs and professionals. According to TAAN, Tourists regard the entire Himalayan region as a single destination, therefore, most of those visiting Tibet will at least spend 4-5 days in Nepal. Tourists visiting Tibet via Nepal is about 8000 to 1000 every month.