42 skydive in Everest Region

Forty-two daring adventure seekers, including two Nepalis, enjoyed skydiving over the world’s highest peak in the Everest Region from October 3-11.
The first ever skydiving in the Everest Region was jointly organized by High and Wild, an adventure outfitter from the United Kingdom, and Explore Himalaya Travel and Adventure.
Fourteen divers enjoyed solo dives while 28 enjoyed crew team and tandem jumps, according to the organizers.
The skydivers boarded a Pilatus Porter from Tenzing-Hillary airstrip in Lukla and launched themselves from above the height of Mt. Everest and descended down to Syangboche through parachutes following a free fall of a few minutes.
Nima Tamang and Maya Gurung became the first Nepalis to enjoy skydiving. Several world-record holders including Windy Smith from New Zealand also enjoyed the thrilling adventure in the Everest Region.
The divers used specially-made parachutes with canopies three times the regular size. They also wear neoprene suits and thermal gear to keep out the freezing cold on the descent and have bottled oxygen strapped to their waist.
Meanwhile, participants at a function organised on October 14 to discuss about the prospects of skydiving in Nepal said the adventure sport held great prospects for Nepal.
"I ask the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) to realize the prospects of this adventure sport and promote it in international arena accordingly," said Suman Pandey of Explore Himalaya Travel and Adventure. Pandey also said that divers from 15 countries participated in the skydiving.
Many international media including BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera and Channel 5 covered the skydiving in the Everest Region.
Speaking at the programme, Prachanda Man Shrestha, chief executive officer NTB, said the NTB would promote skydiving would help Nepal in the upcoming Visit Nepal Year 2011 campaign. "We will promote this sport as a new adventure sport in Nepal," Shrestha said.

Decision to acquire aircraft within three months: Yami

Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation has said that government is committed to buying at least two aircraft for the ailing national flag carrier-Nepal Airlines Corporation.
Speaking at an interaction in Kathmandu on October 12, Yami said, "As an immediate solution we are leasing two aircraft. The government will buy at least two aircraft for NAC after the suggestion committee submits its report on October 21." She also said that the government was undecided over buying Airbus or Boeing aircraft.
She also said that the process of purchasing new aircraft would be transparent and that there would be no controversy.
"The NAC needs at least four aircraft to cope with the increasing demand of air seats," she said and added that the government was planning to mark the year 2011 as Visit Nepal Year to bring at least one million visitors to the country.

NEW VISA REGULATION :

As per the new provision, gratis visa that was being given in Nepal for 3 days has been waived off. In fact 3 kind of Tourist visa will be issued according to the number of days applied for .Much controversies regarding gratis visa for 3 days were talked about before as many viewed that it was as attractive factor while other opposed and said that it was being misused and no gain was there as many just stayed here for a day or two and used it as transit to go to China or India. The new visa structure has been set as US $ 25 to obtain Tourist Visa with Multiple Entry for 15 days. Like wise, Tourist Visa with Multiple Entry for 30 days at US $ 40 and Multiple Entry for 90 Days at US $ 100 has been confirmed. Prior to this the fee was US $ 30 which granted tourist stay for 60 days. Like wise, the government has also revised fee required to extend days of stay and visa renewal. Tourist Visa can now be extended by paying for the charge for 15 days at first and then pay US $ 2 per day if extension is made for more than 15 days and Tourist who over stay will have to pay a total of US $ 5 per day.

Apart from this tourist on Business Visa will have to follow new regulation. Foreigners who have invested more than NRS 100 million will be granted gratis visa for as long as they stay whereas those who have invested more than NRS 10 million will be charged US $ 100 per year and foreigners who have invested less than NRs 10 million will have to pay US $ 300 per year. Here the charges have been fixed as per the amount of investment done. On the other hand, those who stay here on student visa have been classified into 2 groups’ i.e. Non Degree and Degree students. Previously the visa charges for both the groups was same as US $ 40 per policy students staying here and studying non degree courses like music ,art languages etc. will be charged US $ 50 per month and those on degree will be charged US $ 20 per month. Excluding the visa, new regulation on royalty fees to controlled areas which have been revised are set as US $ 500 for a trekker in Upper Mustang or Upper Dolpo . This US $ 500 will entitle the tourist a permit to the area for the tourists a permit to the area for the first 10 days. After this if the trekker wants to extend his stay he will have to pay US $ 50 each day. Equally, Trekker in Manaslu and Humla Region will need to pay US $ 50 for a week. If he extends his stay after that he will have to pay US $ 7 each day. Previously the trekkers were charged US $ 70 for a week and after that US $ 10 for each extra day. Correspondingly, permit fee for Kanchanjunga , Lower Dolpa and Gaurishankar and Lamabagar has been fixed at US $ 10 per person per week. However, permit fee for Chekampar and Chunchet of Gorkha district has been fixed at US $ 35 per person for eightdays during September to November and US $ 25 per person per eight days during December to August.

Govt. names Lukla Airport after Tenzing-Hillary

The government has named Lukla Airport and trekking route from Lukla to Everest Base Camp (EBC) after Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, the first summiteers on Mt. Everest. Now onwards, the airport will be termed Tenzing-Hillary Airport and the route will be named as Tenzing-Hillary Route. The decision regarding this was taken on a Cabinet Meeting held on February 10, 2008. The proposal for this was taken to the cabinet by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. The government has also decided to name one mountain peak after Sir Edmund Hillary. Ministry source say that the peak is yet to be decided. The government has also decided to observe May 29, the day of the first ascent of Mt. Everest back in 1953, as International Everest Day. TAAN had asked the government to commemorate the day as 'International Everest Day' and develop it as a day dedicated to mountain and mountaineering. Likewise, the Ministry also decided to install the statues of Sir Edmund and Tenzing Norgay at the premises of International Mountain Museum in Pokhara.

Eco Everest Expedition in April

With the objective of raising awareness about the impact of climate change in the Himalayas, Eco Everest Expeditions 2008 is being organized in the spring of 2008 jointly by International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Asian Trekking. The expedition will also mark ICIMOD's 25th anniversary. This was informed in a press conference organized in Kathmandu on February 11, 2008. 'Eco Everest Expedition will be a platform to draw maximum global attention to the issues of climate change and melting glaciers in the Himalayas. It will specifically highlight the threats glacial lake outburst floods pose to the local communities and environment in the region. It will also raise awareness on early warning systems and on conserving the fragile mountain ecosystem,' reads a press statement release jointly be the organizers. Renowned Japanese alpinist and conservationist, Ken Noguchi will also be on the expedition as its senior advisor. Likewise, it is supported and endorsed by the pioneering US mountaineer Conrad Anker. Dawa Steven Sherpa of Asian Trekking will lead the expedition. As the main partner, ICIMOD will provide technical support for the expedition and carry out scientific research in the Khumbu Region, focusing on the Imja and Dig Tsho glacial lakes. At the sidelines of the expedition, clean-up campaigns, awareness raising workshops amongst local communities, a photo exhibition will also be organized. Likewise, the organizers are also planning to develop a ten-point recommendation for 'Eco Code of Conduct' which will be field tested during the Eco Everest Expeditions 2008.

Growth in tourist arrival continues in January

The increasing trend in tourist arrival to Nepal continued in January, 2008, bringing in 2985 more visitors as compared to January last year. According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), January recorded healthy increment of 12.9% against the arrival figure of same period last year (via air only). According to statistical figures disseminated by NTB, arrivals from the SAARC region increased by 7% despite the decline in arrivals from India (-12.2%) and Sri Lanka (-12.5%). The European and North American markets have registered robust growth of 33.1% and 34.3% respectively. China (96.8%), South Korea (5.1%), Thailand (23.2 %) and Malaysia (12.1 %) posted a remarkable growth. In January, South Korea contributed more than 10% of the total tourist arrival. However, arrivals from another stable market for Nepal, Japan, went down by 15.3%. Among European countries, the UK (33.9 %), France (78.5 %), Germany (4.5 %), Spain (28.5 %), and Netherlands (36.5 %) have recorded a significant growth showing increased consumer confidence towards the destination. However, arrivals from Austria declined by 7.5%. Nepal received record number of visitors in the year 2007 surpassing the best figures of 1999. With substantial increase in tourist arrival in January, it can be expected that the coming months will also record impressive growth rates.

TIMS to be implemented from January 1

An agreement has been signed between Nepal Tourism Board(NTB) and Trekking Agents Association of Nepal(TAAN) with an objective of maintaining the database of trekkers and discouraging illegal operation in trekking business to implement the Trekkers' Information Management System (TIMS) from 1st January 2008.

As per the provision, all trekkers should have the valid TIMS Certificate that is distributed free of charge by the TIMS counters of NTB and TAAN. Nepal Tourism Board will provide TIMS Certificate free of cost to both trekkers who wish to go to trekking through government registered trekking companies and individual trekkers(FIT).

As per agreement, TAAN would use the offices of all its member agents as TIMS Counter. Trekking agencies that aren't affiliated with TAAN, however, have to get TIMS certificates from either TAAN Secretariat or NTB. Similarly, TAAN's Pokhara Chapter member agencies of TAAN Pokhara Chapter would distribute TIMS Certificate in Pokhara.

It is believed that the database will become useful to rescue the trekkers during the emergencies and it will also help us to ascertain the number of trekkers in a particular trekking route.

TIMS Certificate can be obtained from NTB Office, Bhrikutimandap, NTB Office Pokhara, Belahia-Bhairahawa, Gadda Chauki- Mahendranagar, Kakarvitta and other designated counters by NTB in future.

Tourist arrivals goes up by about 7%

With the peace process gaining due momentum, the Nepalese tourism business has begun showing indications of recovery.

Visitors' inflow to Nepal by air in November, 2006 increased by about 7 percent as compared to the number of the corresponding month of last year. Likewise, the number of Indian tourists, who came to the country last month, shot up by 1.5 percent in comparison with the figure of the same period of 2005.

A total of 29, 407 tourists visited Nepal in the month of November, according to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

Of the total number, Indian market covered 23%, Japanese 11%, British 8%, American 6.8% and German 5.9%.

Air China to expand services to Nepal :
NTB- Air China agreement for joint promotion

Air China is preparing to extend its service to Nepal from different Chinese cities from early next year. General Manager of Kathmandu office of Air China, Qiao Shuwen, said the airline would operate one flight every day from Lhasa to Kathmandu during July-October 2007. The Chinese airliner has been operating flights on Lhasa-Kathmandu route during the high tourism season only. "It will also give continuity to four flights a week in March- June, which it has been operating at present in other seasons as well," Shuwen said. Passengers can fly to Chinese cities Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Qingdao and other major cities from Kathmandu on the same day once China Air expands its services. This was disclosed in a program jointly organized by Nepal Tourism Board and Air China on November 26, 2006.

Nepal Tourism Board and Air China have agreed to carryout various tourism joint promotion programs in Nepal and China. As per the agreement Nepal Tourism Board and Air China will jointly invite 10 journalists and Air China will invite 10 tour operators from China for familiarization trip of Nepal between 25 November and 2nd December 2006. NTB will take care of all the necessary logistics and ground handling in Nepal and Air China will provide 20 FOC (free of charge) round trip air tickets for Beijing Kathmandu sector for the tour operators and journalists. The journalists and tour operators are currently visiting various places of tourist's interest in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan.

Similarly NTB and Air China also agreed to organize press and tour operators' meets in Kathmandu and five major cities of China viz. Lhasa, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. The first leg of the program has been organized in Kathmandu in November 26 amidst a gathering of Nepalese and Chinese tour operators and journalists.
Air China also made announcements of its new flight-schedules between Chendgu-Lhasa-Kathmandu routes during the program. According to Air China, in 2007, it will operate daily flights between Lhasa and Kathmandu in high season, from July 1 to October 30; 4 flights a week in normal season, from March 29 to June 30 and once a week during low season, November 1 to March 28.