PATA to hold Nepal, India, China travel expo in Pokhara

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 2: PATA Nepal Chapter has announced that it will organise the historic Nepal India China Expo (NICE) from February 24 to 26, 2025, at the Pokhara Event Centre in Pokhara.

According to PATA Nepal, the event will be organised in collaboration with the Nepal Tourism Board, Ministry of Industry and Tourism of Gandaki Province, Pokhara Metropolitan City, Pokhara Tourism Council, and other key public and private sector partners and stakeholders at the local, provincial, national, and regional levels. 

It organised a press conference in Kathmandu on Sunday to announce the organisation of the event.  

Speaking at the conference, Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City, Dhan Raj Acharya, said that NICE 2025 is poised to be the biggest event ever held in Pokhara, significantly boosting the city's tourism and providing substantial promotion for its tourism sector.

CEO of the Nepal Tourism Board, Deepak Raj Joshi, termed the expo as a landmark event expecting that it will bring together the two largest outbound markets in the world right in Nepal. 

According to him, the expo will serve as a dynamic platform to connect buyers and sellers, foster fruitful business deals, facilitate knowledge exchange, showcase unique experiential itineraries, and provide international buyers and influencers an opportunity to experience Nepal’s vibrant tourism destinations and activities. 

“This initiative is not just an event but a moment of pride for our nation. I encourage everyone to extend their wholehearted support to make it a grand success,” said Joshi.

The NICE 2025 Convener and Executive Committee Member of PATA Nepal Chapter, Sunil Bhattarai, said NICE is the first-of-its-kind tri-nation tourism expo, bringing together tourism and hospitality stakeholders and organizations from the public and private sectors of Nepal, India and China onto a single platform. 

The event aims to facilitate unparalleled networking and business opportunities while offering deep industry insights and inspirational experiences, he maintained.

CEO of PATA Nepal Chapter, Suresh Singh Budal, expressed his hope that the NICE 2025 would be a pivotal event to increase travel demand for Nepal from these two giant nations—India and China. “We anticipate more than 1,000 delegates from three countries, including more than 100 regional buyers, above 80 exhibitors, above 15 high-value speakers, and hundreds of government officials, media representatives, trade visitors, and esteemed guests," he stated.

According to the organisers, with the theme ‘NICE for MICE and More’, this landmark event seeks to position Pokhara not only as a hub for trekking and adventure but also as an emerging premier destination for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions), leisure tourism, and new dimensions of tourism.