Kathmandu, Nov 13: The government is inviting the Tourism Ministers of 40 countries to participate in the inauguration of the Visit Nepal Year, 2020 Campaugn. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai said that the Tourism Ministers of 40 countries have been invited to participate in the inauguration of the Campaign. Minister Bhattarai shared this information at the ‘VNY 2020 Preparation Meet’ organized by the State-3 government’s ministry of industry, tourism, forest and environment in Lalitpur on Tuesday.
“Extensive preparations are being made for the VNY 2020 and the Visit Year Secretariat has corresponded with the State governments within the country and all the diplomatic missions abroad about the Campaign. We have sent out invitation to the Tourism Ministers of 40 countries,” he said on the occasion. Stating that renowned foreign artists would also participate in the event, the Tourism Minister called for making a grand inauguration of the Visit Nepal Year 2020 with the active participation of the federal, state and local governments as well as the private sector. Visit Nepal Year 2020 Campaign will be formally inaugurated on January 1, 2020.
Minister Bhattarai shared that the VNY 2020 Inauguration Programme has been set to be organized at Nepal’s all foreign diplomatic missions within the first week of January. The government has intensified various promotional programmes and activities with the objective of welcoming 2 million foreign visitors during the Visit Nepal Year 2020. Not only the federal government, the state and local level governments have intensified activities like destination promotion, infrastructure development and service enhancement with priority for making the VNY 2020 Campaign successful.
It is stated that the VNY 2020 inauguration programme will most probably take place at the bDasrath Stadium in Kathmandu. Initially it was planned to be organized at Tundikhel. The Visit Nepal Year 2020 Secretariat is making preparations to hold the inauguration programme at Dasrath Stadium as according to it, the reconstruction of the Stadium would have been completed by that time and the programme would be more organized there.
Trial run of cruise ship targeting VNY 2020 planned for this month in Chitwan Meanwhile, in Chitwan, the test drive of the river cruise ship is to be conducted this month targeting the Visit Nepal Year 2020. Preparations are being made to operate the river cruise ship within November. The construction of the cruise ship is taking place on the bank of the Narayani River beside a community forest at Gyaneshwar of Bharatpur Metropolitan City-16. Rhino Water Entertainment Pvt Ltd is constructing the vessel for this purpose. Ram Chandra Kandel, the Managing Director of the Rhino Water Entertainment Pvt Ltd, said only glass panes remain to be installed on the outer part of the cruise ship.
The engine has been installed and works on construction of chairs, tables, kitchen and bar inside the ship are in progress. According to him, construction of wash rooms and other structures has been completed. Kandel said that a team of foreign technicians was coming and the plan was to carry out the test drive of the cruise ship by the end of November in order to start the commercial operation. The ground deck of the cruise ship will have seat capacity to accommodate 90 persons and the first floor would have room for 100 people. There will be room for 15 persons to stand on the front portion of the first floor and on the open space on the second floor.
Similarly, seats would be managed for 10 VIPs in the first floor. The cruise ship will be 100 feet long and 25 feet wide. People can enjoy the ‘breakfast cruise’ in the morning while having their breakfast or the ‘lunch cruise’ at lunch time or the ‘dinner cruise’ in the evening. Each cruise would be of three hours duration from Kavreghat to Golaghat in Devghat, traversing 25 kilometres distance.
Indian company, Grandeur Marine International, is constructing the cruise ship which will be fitted with two engines. The ship can cruise at a speed of 35 kilometres per hour. The construction of the hip had begun in April last year. A 15-feet deep pond has been constructed for building the ship. The ship’s front part will be shaped like the head of the one-horned rhino. The estimated cost of constructing the ship is Rs 150 million.
