KATHMANDU, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Nepalese tourism entrepreneurs have said that the "Nepal Tourism Promotion Year 2017" in China could be vital to revive Nepal's tourism industry battered by earthquake and Indian embargo of 2015-16.
China is the second largest tourist source market for Nepal after India. Tourists arrivals from China was increasing in leap and bound before the catastrophic earthquake in April 2015 but arrivals from the northern neighbor dropped sharply after the quake.
According to Department of Immigration of Nepal, the Himalayan country received a total of 33,224 Chinese visitors during the first half of 2016 against 39,401 during the same period in 2015, a drop of 28 percent in arrivals.
Kishore Raj Pandey, chairman of Sathi Travel Agency, the first travel agency to bring Chinese tourists in Nepal, said the promotion was definitely good news for Nepal's tourism industry and Nepal should improve tourism facilities for tourists in Nepal.
Suman Pandey, chairman of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Nepal, said that the promotion will encourage more Chinese people to visit Nepal.
Nepal has attracted Chinese tourists in the recent years. On December 25, 2015, as an effort to recover the battered tourism industry, the Nepalese government announced the waiver of visa fee for Chinese tourists traveling to Nepal.
