-Narayan Adhikari
Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai urged Nepali authorities to send at least 100,000 Australian tourists to Nepal during the Visit Year 2020. Minister Bhattarai said this at a programme ‘opportunity and challenge of Visit Nepal Year-2020’ jointly organized by the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) Australia and the Office of Nepali Consulate in Victoria on Wednesday evening.
He urged all Nepali Diaspora community to impart message about tourism importance of Nepal. Noting that the government was working to initiate direct flight service between Nepal and Australia, he said this would believably help increase inflow of Australian tourists to Nepal. The Nepal government was aggrieved of the incident of bushfire in Australia, Minister Bhattarai said, urging Nepali community to cooperate to the Australian people in such grief-stricken moment. On the occasion, Nepali Ambassador to Australia, Mahesh Raj Dahal appreciated the enthusiasm of Nepali people in Australia to make Visit Nepal Year-2020 a success.
He expressed his confidence that the target number of Australian tourists can be reached if the campaign gets support from all sides. NRNA’s former President and chief patron Shesh Ghale urged all to go Nepal to have a reunion with their family members and friends. He also urged the Nepali community to take their Australian friends to Nepal, especially during the year. Australian federal parliamentarian Graladis lauded the role of immigrants in the economy of Australia and also expressed his interest to visit Nepal this year.
NRNA Australia President Keshab Kandel said they are effortful to help reach government’s target on taking foreign tourists to Nepal.
