The Nepal Tourism Board is visiting key tourism markets to encourage travelers to come visit the new republic. After the successful completion of the Constituent Assembly Election in April 2008 followed by the announcement of a republic in May, a fresh mandate was put forth from the people for peace and stability in the country. The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a National Tourism Organization driven by private sector tourism stakeholders, is hitting the road on a promotional blitz. In the U.S., the team will promote travel to Nepal among U.S. media, travel agents and tour operators in Los Angeles (June 20), San Francisco (June 23), Denver (June 24), Washington DC (June 26) and New York (June 27).

The team comprised of eight Nepalese private tourism companies led by NTB will be looking to capitalize on the popularity of Nepal as the premier adventure destination. The mission is being supported and assisted by the Embassy of Nepal. NTB, under its brand campaign "Naturally Nepal -- Once Is Not Enough," has been focusing on the U.S. market with various adventure packages. The drive of the new tourism brand is to reinvent Nepal's diversity, uniqueness and cultural heritage while keeping a strong focus on sustainability and environmental tourism efforts. Nepal's new tourism branding is all about sharing the sense of Nepal's hospitality, culture and history. Themes that will be featured in the new brand campaign will be extreme and soft-adventure activities, Nepal's culture, meditation; festivals and more.

Last year Nepal experienced substantial growth of 27.1 percent in the number of tourists visiting Nepal as compared to 2006. In 2007, tourist arrivals from U.S. increased by 45.5 percent compared to 2006. The first quarter of 2008 has also registered a 32 percent growth of U.S. tourist arrivals. Nepal has good air connectivity to U.S. via Pacific and Atlantic through a number of airlines, such as Silk Air/Singapore Airlines, Nepal Airlines, Dragon Air, Thai Airways, Qatar Airways, Gulf Air, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia, Jet Airways and Indian Airlines. For more information, call 952-914-6701 or visit http://www.welcomenepal.com/.