CHITWAN, Nepal, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The 13th edition of Chitwan Elephant Festival kicked off here on Monday with participation of over 50 elephants.
The annual festival which brings fun, sports and adventure together is being held in Sauraha, the gateway to Chitwan National Park.
The festival has featured unique and spectacular games like polo, football, fast-walk, beauty contest, picnic among others in participation of world's giant animal elephant.
The annual five-day event has been organized by Regional Hotel Association Chitwan in order to bring humans closer with elephants, to encourage wildlife protection and conservation and to promote tourism in the region.
Inaugurating the fiesta, Nepalese Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jeevan Bahadur Shahi said that these sorts of festivals play an important role in attracting foreign tourists.
"Chitwan is a pioneer hub for elephant adventures but still lack tourists as compared to other parts of the country. We need to attract more tourists from our neighboring countries to boost the overall tourism industry", Minister Shahi said while addressing the program.
He was of view that the elephant festival helps the country to revive the tourism industry, which has been adversely affected by the devastating earthquake last year.
"If we could invite just one percent of population from the neighboring countries India and China, it would be a big achievement for Nepal", Shahi added.
Chitwan is the third popular tourism destination in the Himalayan country after the capital city Kathmandu and lake city Pokhara. Though the region used to welcome nearly 200,000 tourists in a single year, the number has dropped to less than half after the disaster of 2015.
According to Chitwan National Park, over 50,000 tourists visited the region in the last five months, which is quite encouraging.
Addressing the event, coordinator of the festival Suman Ghimire claimed that this festival has boosted the number of tourists in Chitwan in the recent years.
"This festival is a perfect way to celebrate and enhance the relation of wildlife with humans. Every year, we have been trying to make the festival more elephant-friendly and it has certainly boosted the flow of tourists", Ghimire said.
This year, the festival has introduced elephant polo for the first time in its history, which is expected to draw huge number of foreign and domestic tourists. Elephant polo is often regarded as the most adventurous and rare activity in the world.
Besides, the festival has also featured cultural and entertainment programs along with boat and cart riding competition.
The five-day event will end on Friday.
