NTB to spend 70 per cent of its budget for international marketing

Kathmandu, July 18: The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has approved a budget of Rs 1.59 billion for the current fiscal year 2025/26.     

A recently held meeting of the executive committee of the Board passed the budget for the current fiscal year, said Coordinator of Budget Formulation Sub-Committee, Rishi Ram Bhandari.     

The budget and programme of the Board has a target of establishing Nepal's image in the international tourism community by developing safe, reliable and attractive tourism destinations, he mentioned.     

Bhandari shared, "The Board has set a target of making the overall tourism sector dynamic by increasing tourist arrivals at least by 15 per cent in the current fiscal year."     

Chief Executive Officer of the Board, Deepak Raj Joshi, mentioned that the budget was focused on the areas and programmes making a significant contribution to tourism promotion.     

The budget would be useful for creating employment opportunities and sustainable development of the tourism sector by increasing national production and foreign exchange earnings through the development, expansion and promotion of tourism business, he opined.     

The Board would organise promotional programmes in at least 50 source markets, to produce an additional 5,000 human resources for the tourism business and protect 25 new tourism infrastructures for tourism expansion in the current fiscal year.     

Out of the total budget, 70 per cent would be spent on international marketing for the service expansion of the Board and establishing an office in India. India is the major tourism source market of Nepal, and more than 400,000 tourists visited Nepal from India in 2024. (RSS)