Nepal plans to offer easier entrance conditions to Chinese travellers with issuing offices across China PRC.
KATHMANDU- The government of Nepal is planning to ease visa regime for Nepal-bound Chinese tourists, officials said Thursday.
The Ministry of Tourism has submitted a report to this effect to various ministries for approval, officials of the ministry said. The report was prepared by a team chaired by Joint Secretary Mohan Krishna Sapkota at the Ministry of Tourism.
It mainly proposes to establish diplomatic offices in various parts of China to facilitate prospective tourists and set up visa facilitation service centres in big cities in China.
The report also floats a cost-free visa regime for Chinese tourists but that has been marked as an optional category. In November 2001, China included Nepal in the list of Approved Destination Status countries for outbound Chinese tourists.
In 2011, a total of 75,517 Chinese tourists visited Nepal, a multifold increase as compared to 8,000 arrivals of the Chinese nationals in 2001.
India and China represent now the largest source of tourism to Nepal via air. In the first 11 months of 2012, Indian and Chinese visitors accounted for 41.2 % of total arrivals. Chinese travellers from January to November 2012 were up by 20.2%, reaching 48,379 travellers, according to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) statistics. Total tourist arrivals by air in the first 11 months of 2012 reached an all-time high of 553,430. The NTB indicates that air arrivals during the period January-November is up by 10.4 % on a year to year basis.
(Source: Xinhuanet)
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
