September 25: The government has decided to observe the 'Visit Nepal Decade' from next year with the objective of revitalizing the tourism industry. Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Suresh Adhikari confirmed that a decision has been taken to celebrate the Visit Nepal Decade to revive the tourism sector which has been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.    
Addressing the Nepal Hospitality Conclave-2022 hosted by the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) on Saturday, Tourism Secretary Adhikari said that a meeting of the Council of Ministers on Friday decided to celebrate the decade from 2023 to 2033 as the Visit Nepal Decade.    
Prior to this, the government had declared 2020 as the Visit Nepal Year and set the target of bringing in two million tourists into the country in that particular year. However, the Visit Nepal Year campaign had to be suspended due to the pandemic.    
The country's tourism sector has gradually started to pick up momentum after the Covid-19 pandemic subsided.    
The government has announced the Visit Nepal Decade with the aim of speedy revival of the tourism sector. Its objective is to increase the arrival of foreign tourists. The government plans to promote tourism by observing the Visit Nepal Decade through coordination and collaboration with the private sector.    
The ministry has already made public its tourism revival action plan. The government has decided to celebrate the Visit Nepal Decade but the programmes to be carried out during the decade has not been revealed yet.    
The arrival of foreign tourists was around 1.2 million in 2018 and 2019 before the outbreak of COVID-19. Nepal Tourism Board's data shows that 230,085 foreign tourists had arrived in Nepal in 2021. -- RSS