By CK Khanal
Kathmandu, Oct. 24: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent state visit to Nepal and his remarks about Buddhism and the birthplace of Lord Buddha have created positive vibes in the tourism industry of Nepal.
Tourism entrepreneurs and policy makers have expected a rise in the number of Chinese tourists in the year 2020, which the country is preparing to mark as Visit Nepal Year (VNY) 2020.
Minister for Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai said that the country would see more Chinese tourists during the VNY 2020 due to the publicity Nepal and Lumbini as the birthplace of Lord Buddha received during the visit of President Xi in Nepal.
The remarks of President Xi during his visit and the agreement signed between the two nations on exchange of culture and tourism will have a significant impact on Nepal’s tourism, Minister Bhattarai said.
“President Xi has clearly spoken on three issues. First, he said Nepal was the most favourable country to the Chinese people in South Asia; secondly, Xi clearly said that Gautam Buddha was born in Nepal and Buddhism was the local religion of Chinese people, and thirdly, he has assured to encourage more Chinese people to visit Nepal in VNY 2020,” he said.
All these remarks of the Chinese President would lead to a significant increase in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Nepal.
Minister Bhattarai said that Lumbini had got intensive publicity among the Chinese people and across the world from the visit of President Xi. From this, we can expect that Lumbini would see the flow of more Chinese and other Buddhist tourists in the coming days, he added.
He said that operation of the Gautam Buddha International Airport in near future would further promote Lumbini to the Buddhist pilgrims.
“We are soon announcing special offers and packages to the international airlines to operate their flights to and from the Gautam Buddha International Airport. I hope, the Chinese airlines will also operate their direct flights to the new airport which will facilitate the Chinese nationals to visit Lumbini directly,” Minister Bhattarai said.
Tourism entrepreneur Bikram Pandey Kaji said that a large section of Chinese people follows the Buddhist way of life; therefore, the remarks of President Xi would have a very positive impact on the arrival of the Chinese tourists to Nepal.
“After the prosperity achieved by China in recent years, the Chinese people have started opening up their religious beliefs. If we could make proper publicity of Lumbini, there are very high prospects of Chinese tourists visiting Nepal and Lumbini,” Pandey Kaji said.
“Gautam Buddha Himself had suggested visiting four important places relating to his life, including Lumbini, His birth place. If we promote Lumbini properly, every Buddhist follower will come at least once in their life,” he said.
Buddhist scholar Kedar Shakya said that the basis of Nepal China relation was Buddhist culture and art from the very beginning. The recent visit of Xi has further cemented the historical relation, he said.
He said that Xi’s visit would lead to more exchanges of Buddhist scholars between the two countries which would certainly promote Lumbini and its tourism.