Nepal-China Joint Statement unveils ‘Visit Year-2025’

Kathmandu: The Nepal and China joint statement has highlighted celebrating 2025 AD as the Visit Nepal Year.

The 11^th point of the statement merely focuses on welcoming Chinese tourists in 2025. The point has not created hype in Nepal yet.

Nepal had announced to welcome more than 20 lakh foreigners in Visit Nepal 2020. But, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the target.

The badly affected tourism sector of Nepal has not been able to return to its normal stage. There was a record of 11 lakhs 99 thousand 191 foreign tourists visiting Nepal. It was the highest number of tourists recorded till now.

But the number declined by about 81 percent in 2020. About 2 lakh 30 thousand tourists had only visited Nepal in that year. The number decreased to 1 lakh 50 thousand 962 foreign tourists in 2021.

The arrival of tourists had improved in the fiscal year 2022-2023. About 4 lakh tourists had visited Nepal in that year. The tourism industry has not taken off the expected pace after COVID-19.

In such scenarios, the announcement of Visit Year 2025, in support of China, has added another excitement. However, Nepal has not revealed its preparation for Visit Year 2025 yet.

The joint statements of Nepal and China even talked about the Pokhara International Airport. Both governments expressed their happiness in the functioning of the airport. They have also planned to inspire the airline companies of both countries to connect with Pokhara International Airport. The joint statement is positive in strengthening the relationship between the citizens and the countries.

The agreements were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang.