The 42nd World Tourism Day on September 27 is to be celebrated in Nepal also by organizing various programs. The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation and the bodies under it as well as the stakeholder organizations are preparing to mark the occasion physically this time amidst the COVID-19 pandemic by following the health safety protocols. The Ministry officials and the chiefs of bodies under it held a virtual meeting recently in that connection. Tourism Secretary Yadav Prasad Koirala chaired the meeting which held discussions on celebrating World Tourism Day in a grand manner. The WTD is being commemorated this year around the slogan of ‘Tourism for Inclusive Growth.’ World Tourism Day, celebrated each year on 27 September, is the global observance day fostering awareness of tourism’s social, cultural, political, and economic value and the contribution that the sector can make towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. Senior Director of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Hikmat Singh Aiyer said a formal program would be organized at the NTB’s auditorium. According to NTB data, more than 66 thousand tourists arrived in Nepal in the last eight months of 2021. The tourist arrivals in 2020 were only 230 thousand 85 for the whole year. It was one million 197 thousand 191 in 2019.
