Kathmandu: A 35-member team of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) and the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) are scheduled to go on a China sales mission on May 15 in a bid to promote Nepal in China. The delegation will visit Chengdu, Shanghai, Beijing and Xian. The mission will conclude on May 24, according to NATTA.
“Our mission aims to promote tour packages amid growing Chinese interest in the adventure segment,” said NATTA president Pavitra Kumar Karki.
According to government statistics, Chinese tourists spent 10.14 days in Nepal in 2011. They have the lowest length of stay in Nepal after Indian visitors. According to NATTA, Chinese visitors normally go on treks lasting three-seven days while tour operators have not been able to develop packages to increase their stay in Nepal.
“However, the positive part is that Chinese visitors have started becoming interested in soft adventure activities in Nepal, and the sales mission aims to promote adventure tour packages to encourage them to prolong their stay,” Karki added.
Meanwhile, regular Kathmandu, Nagarkot, Pokhara, Chitwan and Lumbini packages, which are popular among Chinese, will be sold at the business-to-business (B2B) session.
Annual tourist arrivals from China crossed the 46,000 mark in 2010, a five-fold jump from 2001.
Source: ekantipur
