Nepal Tourism Generates Encouraging Interest in Mediterranean MarketMonday, April 2nd, 2018
Nepal received considerably encouraging interest among the travel trader sector based in and around Mediterranean market and successfully reached to the general visitors who showed positive enquiries during the four day travel and tourism fair, 22nd East Mediterranean Tourism Market, EMITT, held in the capital city of Turkey, Istanbul from 25th to 28th January 2018. EMITT is the fastest growing tourism exhibition in the region and has been hugely successful in inviting and showcasing tourism products and service globally from more than 105 countries. This annual extravaganza in 2018 has provided Nepal a good platform to connect to European market as well as more than 600 hosted buyers under a common roof.
Turkey outbound has hit the record number of 9.5 million in 2017 while Nepal received 5,174 Turkish tourists in 2017 remarkably surging from 2,713 arrivals in 2016. Tourists’ arrival in Nepal surges tremendously in 2017. The recent data recorded by the Department of Immigration shows that the tourist arrival in Nepal is 9, 40,218 for the year 2017 as compared to 7,53,002 in 2016.
Turkish Airlines, now the only airlines connecting Nepal to Europe directly, operates four flights per week connecting Nepal to Istanbul and facilitating large number of European tourists travelling to Nepal. Nepal and Turkey signed an Air Service Agreement in September 2010 that has made way for the designated flag carriers of the two countries to operate 14 flights per week each on Kathmandu- Istanbul sector.
Nepal Tourism Board participated in the said exhibition alongside four private companies: Makalu Adventure Pvt. Ltd, Aarya Village Travel Pvt. Ltd, Sea Links Travels and Tours Pvt. Ltd and Mountain Adventure Trekking Pvt. Ltd. The companies received fair share of visitors numbering 50000 in total, both local and international who grabbed the opportunities to observe globally competent destinations and products in a single platform. NTB was represented by its manager duo Sameer Bajracharya and Surya Thapaliya.
