'Karnali may host world's longest river rafting'

Kathmandu, May 8: Nepal is preparing to host the world's longest rafting activity in the Karnali River.

The government is planning to operate the adventure sports in the 210-km long section of Karnali from Tibet border in the north to the Indian border in the south, said Suraj Vaidya, coordinator of the Visit Nepal Year 2020.

"Experts from Nepal Association of Rafting Agencies (NARA) have gone for feasibility study of the river in order to find suitability of rafting in all parts of the river," he said.

If everything goes well, the longest river in the country will witness rafting world cup or Asian Rafting Championship happening there, Vaidya said.

Currently, rafting in the Amazon is the longest in the world which is about 200 km long.

The VNY 2020 secretariat has also planned to use Yeti as Nepal's mascot.

"Every country has its own mascot, therefore, we plan to create 108 Yeti statue and install them across the country," said Vaidya.

He said that Nepal must focus on the tourist markets where it has direct flights and Vietnam and Cambodia could be new source markets.

Nepal plans to sign air transport agreement with Vietnam during visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli who will make the trip to Vietnam and Cambodia from May 9 to 13. The two countries have a large Buddhist population and are important tourist source market.

Flights to and fro Vietnam will be conducted from the Gautam Buddha International Airport, Bhairahawa.

Meanwhile, Nepal Tourism Board and VNY Secretariat are working with the Lonely Planet to develop effective tourism promotion plans and position Nepali tourism destinations in the international markets.

"The government is also preparing to hold Nepal Tourism Investment Summit by the end of this year where all provinces will collaborate with the federal government. This is an initiative beyond VNY 2020," said Vaidya.

"As the cost of doing business in high in Nepal, we have proposed the government to give us land to make tourism parks so that integrated services can be offered to the tourists," he said.

Similarly, the secretariat has proposed to conduct Shiva Shakti Parikrama (round) on 26 November 2019 to promote religious shrines in Nepal. Since, Buddhist Circuit and Ramayan Circuit have most of their parts in India, Shiva Shakti project will create greater tourist engagement in Nepal.

Likewise, World Heritage Day bike ride, Kathmandu by night, Namaste centres at the southern border points and new mobile app are in the plan for the preparation of the VNY 2020.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 9 May 2019.