1. The Netherlands
Nepal made its colourful presence in this year’s Vakantiebeurs 2020, a travel fair organized in Jaarbeurs, Utrecht, the Netherlands from 15 to 19 January 2020. Vakantiebuers, one of the prominent travel fairs in Europe, witnessed its 50th anniversary this year. According to the organizer the show was attended by 1106 exhibitors from 124 countries. In the 5-day long fair the first day was allocated for the travel trade participants whereas the rest of the four days were open for the consumers.

Nepal’s participation in the fair was led by Nepal Tourism Board along with the seven travel trade companies from Nepal. Along with the showcase of the products and the destinations, the major highlight of the Nepal was Visit Nepal 2020 campaign. Besides the exhibition, some other sideline events were also organized in the program venue to give additional visibility to Nepal.

In cooperation with the Consul General of Nepal in the Netherlands and the Nepalese community, some typical Nepali cultural performances were also organized in the Nepal stall and in the program hall of the venue in the fourth day of the fair. The cultural performance including the dance into the tune of Sarangi, Madal and flute attracted a number of visitors. The cultural troupe with the Banner of Visit Nepal 2020 visited many other countries’ pavilions as well where they cheered for Nepal. In the evening of the same day, Meeting and Greeting was also held in the Nepal stall serving the Nepali food items and beverages. The program was attended by the Consul General of Nepal in the Netherlands Mr. Cas de Stoppelaar, representatives from the Nepal Embassy in Brussels, the leaders and the members of the Nepalese community in the Netherlands and a significant number of the Dutch nationals.

In the series of the sideline events, a renowned Dutch photographer Pim Horvers screened a presentation on Photographic Journey through Nepal, highlighting Nepal’s natural treasures. Rene de Bos, a Dutch Summiteer and adventurer presented on Remote Area Trekking in Nepal among the audience. Similarly Mr. Cas de Stoppelaar, Consul General of Nepal gave his presentation on Wildlife in Nepal where he shared his own experience about the wildlife in Nepal amidst a crowd in the last day of the fair.

Throughout the entire fair period of 5 days, the Nepal stall was successful to draw a steady stream of visitors and disseminate the information about the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign to the target audience.
Mr. Khem Raj Timalsena, Sr. Officer and Mr. Jayshakti Sarraf, Officer represented NTB in the program. The private sector companies participating under Nepal banner were Satori Adventures, Well Nepal Travel and Tours, Himalayan Guides Nepal Treks and Expedition, Actual Sde nture, Hotel Manaslu, Expedition Hmalaya.com and Trekker Nepal.

2. Austria

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) along with five travel companies from Nepal namely Ojha Holidays Tours & Treks Pvt. Ltd., One Himalayan Adventures Pvt. Ltd., Aavash Feel The Mountain Travels & Treks Pvt. Ltd., High Spirit Treks and Expedition Nepal Pvt. Ltd. and Mountain Buddha Holidays Pvt. Ltd participated in four days long fair Ferien Messe Wien 2020 at Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center, Vienna, Austria, from 16 to 19 January 2020. More than 800 exhibitors including national tourism organizations and travel trade companies from around the world participated in the fair.

Ambassador at the Embassy of Nepal in Vienna Mr. Prakash Kumar Suvedi visited Nepal stall on the first and third day of the fair. His presence at the stall helped to boost confidence among the visitors at Nepal stall. NTB was represented by Manager Mr. Khadga Bikram Shah, Officer Mr. Saroj Maharjan.

Europe is major tourist generating market for Nepal. In 2019, Nepal received 4,862 Austrian tourists. Based on past observations, Austrian tourists to Nepal are hard adventurers, mountaineers and leisure explorers, most interested in mountaineering, trekking, adventure activities, heritage tours and human engagement.
The fair has created an ideal platform to reach out to Austrian market especially the potential travelers and operators with fresh communication and updates of Nepal.

3. Germany
Nepal Tourism Board in coordination with Nepal German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NGCCI) along with 6 travel trade companies from Nepal showcased Nepal’s diverse range of tourism endowments as ‘Lifetime Experiences’ in Caravan, Motors & Tourism (CMT) Fair; a world’s largest consumer show for holiday makers, travel professionals, travel agents and caravan providers from 11 to 19 January 2020 in Stuttgart, Germany.
The 9 days holiday exhibition enthralled 2,50,000 plus visitors with 2000 exhibitors from more than 100 countries . Nepal stand at CMT highlighted the golden roof of Swayambhunath cut-out and was most visible and centre of attraction for the visitors.

Nepali cultural dance was performed by the Nepalese students living in Stuttgart and nearby places on 19th Jan at the Nepal pavilion creating a gathering of visitors. Inquiries from the visitors varied from the best places to visit in Nepal to the best season, trekking/hiking along with the offers in Visit Nepal Year 2020. Participating companies offered attractive packages to the visitors and sponsored a holiday package to the lucky draw winner at the event. Most of the visitors at Nepal pavilion expressed their concern regarding Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign and wished for it success.

4. India
Nepal Tourism Board along with 9 private sector companies made a successful participation at Nepal Sales Mission-I organized in the cities of Amritsar and Chandigarh. The event started on 6th Jan on Amritsar and ended on 7th Jan on Chandigarh. The sales mission aimed to bring all the travel trade partners together to update about various destination of Nepal and educate regarding the recent developments in Nepalese tourism. The event is expected to be of great interest to Indian clientele and allow them to explore the opportunities that lie within. The main focus of this sales mission is to reconnect the travel industry of Nepal to the Indian with reinforced energy and new strategy towards bilateral growth and development of tourism so as to benefit travel industry of both the countries.

The Nepalese delegation is led by Mr. Lila Bahadur Baniya. Officiating Director, Nepal Tourism Board along with Mr. Robin Regmi, Officer-India & South Asia Unit. The delegation had 9 private companies/DMCs representatives and interacted with over 50 Travel Agents in Amritsar and over 60 Travel Agents in Chandigarh. Major media representatives attended the event in both the cities.

The sales mission is important for Nepal as Nepal is celebrating Visit Nepal Year 2020 with an objective to bring 2 million tourists in Nepal. The Visit Nepal Year 2020 (VNY-2020) campaign was formally launched on January 1, 2020 by Rt. Hon. President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari. The inauguration ceremony was organized in presence of Tourism Ministers and delegates of 13 different countries including Minister for Tourism of India, Hon. Prahlad Singh Patel. One of the major objectives of this VNY campaign is to give life time experience to the visitors in Nepal through different activities & events, opening up new tourist destinations for travelers.

Nepal Tourism Board
January 21, 2020