Nepali youths promote Nepal Tourism Year 2011 in London

A group of Nepali students and professionals distributed pamphlets and materials introducing Nepal to hundreds of people in London to promote Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

Members of 'Jaggy Nepali Samoa UK' distributed leaflets and DVDs on Nepal to hundreds of people from UK as well as tourists visiting UK at the Trafalgar Square-a major tourist site-in London on Sunday. Completed in 1845, Trafalgar Square ranks as the fourth most popular tourist attraction in the world with more than 15 million visitors annually, according to Wikipedia.

A total of 29 young Nepalese engaged in different professions were divided into five different groups to promote and invite tourists to visit Nepal. Passersby were attracted by the 'Nepal Tourism 2011' slogan T-shirts worn by the team members and volunteers which led to interaction with people from different parts of the world. The volunteers distributed pamphlets to over 1,000 people in the Trafalgar Square area and many of them expressed interest to visit Nepal, according to the organisers.

Attaché at the Nepalese embassy in London, Khimananda Bhusal, also participated in the programme and provided handout materials. He thanked the Nepali youths for their initiative to make Nepal known to the people in the UK and elsewhere.

Spokesperson of the organising committee, Prakash Basnet, said, the group is planning to organise similar programmes at a larger scale in different cities of the UK. "Such efforts should be termed a success even if just ten tourists visit Nepal because once they visit, they will share their experiences about the natural beauty and cultural diversity of Nepal with their family and friends," he added.

The campaign ended for the day with the group singing popular Nepali song 'Resham Phiriri.'

Together with Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Nepal government has launched the 'Nepal Tourism Year 2011' campaign with an aim to bring in at least one million international tourists in Nepal by the year 2011 and spread the benefits of tourism to the people at large. Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sharat Singh Bhandari, and senior NTB officials are visiting UK and Germany this week to promote the campaign