By Damodar Regmi (IMPA 2009)
Nepal, a close neighbor of China, will be celebrating Nepal Tourism Year in 2011. In this context, Nepal Tourism Year Program was held at SPPM, Tsinghua University, on 23 March 2010. Damodar Regmi, an IMPA student from Nepal presented detailed aspect of tourism of Nepal. In his presentation he mentioned that Nepal consists of geographical, ethnicity, religious, cultural, lingual, racial diversity but within this diversity, unity and harmony is the unique feature of Nepalese society. He further added that Nepal is the country of Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak in the world, and the birthplace of Gautam Buddha. Tourism year will not only help to boost the Nepalese economy but also strengthen global friendships.
During the program, IMPA class representative Edward Kadozi (Rwanda) stated "Nepalese people are dedicated, hardworking and honest. This is an opportunity to any responsible citizen living in such international environment to make his country known. Tourism is the backbone for economic development of Nepal. This program certainly helps to promote the image and culture of Nepal at the international scene."
"Beauty in the landscape, mountains, cultural heritages, lakes and bio-diversity, is not stuck in stationary landmarks; rather, the beauty moves with the people wherever they go. This great day shall remind us all, that as human beings, we all have one destiny, that of making our lives better than yesterday. I love Nepal and beauty of their culture" another IMPA student Lyson Samson Kandu (Malawi) stated. Similarly, Sumana Alokabandara (Sri Lanka) said "Nepal is a tourism destination of Sri Lankan due to the Lumbini (Nepal), the birth place of Lord Buddha, scenic beauty is another tourist attraction of Nepal. Sri Lankan people consider Nepal as heaven as a very special place to visit. Nepal is a holy land for Buddhists and every Buddhist once in their life time wants to pay a visit to Lumbini, a sacred place of Buddhist worldwide."
Speaking on the program, Raja Ram Bartaula First Secretary at the Nepalese embassy in Beijing said: "Tourism is Nepal's comparative advantage sector. The government of Nepal has declared Nepal Tourism Year 2011. This type of initiatives will be helpful for to promote Nepal's image and tourism in the world.” He also thanked the organizer for organizing the event and Tsinghua University for its support
In keeping with the cultural tune Muhammad Munir Arif (Pakistan) presented a Nepali song and Umakant Adhikari (Nepal) recited a Nepali poem. Senior government officials from Asia and Africa, SPPM officials and Chinese students participated in the program. This event gave students an opportunity to enrich their knowledge and to better understand not only the Nepalese culture, but also each other.
