Dear all Friends, wishing you a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2012.

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Sudip Kulung wins Everest Marathon 2011

Sudip Kulung Rai finished won the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon 2011 on 29 May. The 23-year-old athlete from Solukhumbu district finished race from Everest Base Camp to Namche Bazaar with the timing of 3:45:39.

Ram Kumar Rajbhandari (3:45:06) and the 2008 winner Deepak Raj Rai (3:50:51) finished second and third respectively. Similarly, Ang Futi Sherpa finished the race in 4:46:14 to win the women’s category for the third consecutive year. Mingma Lohmu Sherpa (5:07:37) and Cheechee Sherpa (5:20:20) finished second and third respectively.

Poland’s Sylwia Kaskowiee became the first woman in the history of the marathon to win foreigners’ category. She finished the race in 5:34:06 ahead of Christopher Suggit of the UK and Tomaz Kulinski of Poland.

A total of 105 runners — 65 foreigners and 40 Nepalese — had participated in the high altitude marathon. The event is organized every year on 29 May to commemorate the first ascent of Mt Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary back in 1953.

Nepal Tourism Year 2011 launched

President Ram Baran Yadav formally inaugurated Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011 campaign amid a ceremony held at Dasharath Stadium on 14 January. The formal launching ceremony was attended by UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai and tourism ministers from SAARC member countries among other dignitaries.

Some 20,000 spectators watched air show by paramotors and ultra-light  aircraft and a colorful march past that included cultural shows by different indigenous groups, different associations and musical band by Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police. Office-bearers and staffers of Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN) along with trekking workers also participated in the march past.Senior leaders of all the political parties were present in the formal launching ceremony to express their solidarity to the year-long campaign.

The banners with slogan like ‘Together for tourism, tourism for prosperity, prosperity for stability’ were splashed across the city. The country is organizing the campaign with the objective of welcoming one million visitors, divert tourists to new areas, increase tourists' length of stay and raise per capita expenditure of tourists.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said that campaign was aimed at giving a message to outside world that Nepal was a safe and attractive destination to visit. “Leaving behind a decade long conflict, we have crossed four years of the peace process. For stable peace, we now need a strong economy which can be achieved through tourism,” he said. He also said the government was planning to double the number of tourist arrivals, increase their average stay from 10 to 15 days and also increase their average expenditure.

NTY Main Organizing Committee officially unveiled four different tourism products -- The Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), Might East, Wild West Triangle and Tarai Tourism. For meeting that target, private sector players have appealed to the political parties to adhere strictly to their commitment to making 2011 free from strikes and other activities that cause inconveniences to tourists.

Asian Tourism Ministers´ Conclave was organized later in the evening. Speaking on the occasion, ministers from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka said they were also planning to celebrate 2011 as Tourism Year in their respective countries also.

Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign kicks off

prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on 26 February officially launched Nepal Tourism Year 2011 amid a ceremony at Army Pavilion, Tundikhel. Launching the yearlong campaign by lighting a peace torch, Nepal urged all concerned to join hands for the most anticipated national campaign that could trigger economic revolution.

Representatives from political parties, tourism, economic sector, private sector, sports, entertainment and ethnic communities participated in the rally – that took out from five places in the city – before attending the inaugural ceremony.

Along with the PM, 18 political parties showed their commitment to the national campaign by pledging to make the campaign a big success and avoid any kind of bandh or strike in 2011 to maintain peace and security.

More than 40,000 people from different walks of life participated in rallies carrying national flags from City Hall, Lainchour, Academy Hall, Dasharath Stadium and Basantpur Durbar square to converge at the army pavilion. TAAN led the procession of about 2,000 trekking professionals, who enthusiastically participated in the rally with national flags.

After the launch in Kathmandu, the NTY 2011 Secretariat is planning to launch the programs in Biratnagar, Janakpur, Birgunj, Chitwan, Pokhara, Bhairahawa, and Nepalgunj, according to the NTB.

'Garbage mgmt major challenge in Everest region'

The fourth meeting of Sagarmatha Tourism Coordination Forum (STCF) under the Sagarmatha National Park Buffer Zone Management Committee (SNPBZMC) concluded in Kathmandu on January 18.

Inaugurating the meeting, Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Deepak Bohora said garbage management was the big challenge for tourism in the Sagarmatha National Park. “To preserve our mountain ecology, I have proposed the government to conduct a march with the theme of ‘Save the Himalayas’ all the way to New York to draw the attention of world community towards the preservation of mountain ecology,” Bohora added. He also said the government was mulling over a proposal to reward expedition teams on Mt Everest and other Himalayan peaks on the basis of garbage that they bring down with them.

Speaking on the occasion, Sonam Gyaljen Sherpa, president of STCF, said toursm infrastructure development in the Khumbu region has to be carried out under close coordination with concerned stakeholders. “The main challenging part is to make a proper policy in sharing revenue generated from the Himalayas. The policy should clearly state who should get what and by performing what responsibility,” he added. He also regretted that people in the Himalayan region were getting only a nominal share of revenue generated from the Himalayas, despite facing environment degradation and other impacts due to increasing pressure in the Himalayas.

TAAN President Sitaram Sapkota suggested implementing a provision of taking a single liaison officer instead of many liaison officers from different agencies to facilitate varied activities in the Himalayas. He also said TAAN was committed to spend revenue generated from Trekkers’ Information Management System (TIMS) for the welfare of trekking and mountaineering staff and development and promotion of tourism activities.

Also speaking on the occasion were Constituent Assembly member Ang Dawa Sherpa, Tourism Secretary Nagendra Prasad Ghimire, Director General of Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation Gopal Upadhyaya and NTB CEO Prachanda Man Shrestha.

On the occasion, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA), Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) and Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) made presentations on their respective activities in the Himalayan region. TAAN 1st Vice President Bachhu Narayan Shrestha made a presentation on responsible mountain tourism in Sagarmatha Region and former TAAN President Deepak Mahat made a presentation on adventure tourism.

The meeting came up with a 15-point resolution on promotion of responsible tourism in the mountain region, exerting minimum possible pressure in mountain culture and ecology.