Nepal offers tourist and business attractions, minister says

Nepal has been sparing no efforts to attract more Chinese tourists to visit the country, Nepal's Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jitendra Narayan Dev said in Beijing on Friday.

China and Nepal have a long history of trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, which creates a good atmosphere for bilateral tourism, he said at the Nepal embassy.

In 2016, Nepal began offering no-payment visas to Chinese tourists.

Last year marked the Nepal Tourism Promotion Year in China, and the two countries conducted several joint programs in many provinces in China like expos and exhibitions.

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Nepal is beginning to recover after the 2015 earthquake, but the challenge is to keep this momentum going, he said.

According to the embassy, the number of Chinese tourists traveling to Nepal in 2017 increased by 6 percent compared to 2016 and accounted 11 percent of the total number of visitors.

Several Chinese travel agencies noted that a lack of direct flights from first-tier cities to the country might be a major factor.

China is a huge source country of outbound tourists and there are ample opportunities of attracting them to Nepal, the minister said.

He emphasized that Nepal is one of the safest places for Chinese tourists and the Nepalese people are hospitable. He also encouraged the entertainment industry to explore his country's potential.

The government is committed to further enhance the quality of infrastructure, including connectivity at major tourism sites and is offering attractive investment opportunities for Chinese entrepreneurs, he added.