They made such a request during the fourth meeting of Nepal-Tibet Joint Tourism Coordination Committee held in Tibetan capital of Lhasa on 14 September. [break]The two sides also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral tourism promotion.
Addressing a press meet organized to inform the decisions taken by the meeting, Laxman Bhattarai, joint secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, said they also requested the Tibetan authorities to allow Nepali choppers to conduct rescue and chartered services in Mansarovar area of Tibet.
The Nepali side also requested the Tibetan authorities to open Chinese immigration office at Hilsa of Tibet to facilitate international tourists visiting Kailash-Mansarovar area.
Bhattarai said the Tibetan officials have assured them to promote Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011 campaign by placing hoarding boards at major places in the Tibetan capital. He also said the Tibetan officials were positive on the demands and had assured them of raising the issues before the authorities concerned.
Tibet received more than five million tourists in the first eight months of 2010. If Nepal managed to get only a small portion of it, it could be a great milestone in meeting the targets of NTY 2011, participants of the program said.
Meanwhile, members of NAC Plane Purchase Concern Committee have expressed deep concerns over the lack of process in procuring new aircraft in the fleet of the national flag carrier.
“If we don´t buy the aircraft now, we are never going to buy it,” Suman Pandey, member secretary of the committee, said. He also said the price of a wide body aircraft has recently increased by about a billion rupees in the international market.
“It is very important to have a strong national flag carrier as it gives added value to the tourism sector,” they said, adding that national flag carrier is considered more reliable than the private carriers.
They suggested the government to acquire at least two wide body aircraft to meet the target of NTY 2011.
“The new aircraft can help bring tourists from US and Europe,” Pandey said.
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