The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and the Tibet Autonomous Regional Tourism Bureau held a recommendation conference of bilateral tourism Monday, in a bid to enhance cooperation between travel agencies on either side of the border.

 
Austrian visitors travel in the Tibet Autonomous Region, June 5, 2009. They arrived at Tibet's Burang Port via Nepal, photo from Xinhua.

"It's the first time we have held such a meeting in China's Tibet. We hope to introduce both Nepal and Tibet to visitors from China' s mainland through our joint efforts, thus making our tourist routes more attractive," said Prachanda Man Shrestha, chief executive officer of the NTB.

The expansion of tourism in both Tibet and Nepal benefits from their close religious culture, according to Deputy Director of the Tibet's Tourism Bureau Wang Songping,

As a neighboring country to China, Nepal provides a major tourist link to Tibet. Lhasa, Tibet's capital, also serves as an important transit point for those heading from China into Nepal.

Photo shows a part of the China-Nepal Highway, photo from Xinhua.

"Now, China and Nepal are endeavoring to improve tourist transportation in order to facilitate more travelers," Wang added.

Besides the world's cultural relics such as Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha Sakyamuni, Nepal's outdoor tourist industry is also well developed, with several popular pursuits like climbing, hiking, rafting and jungle exploration bringing in many visitors each year.

In 2008, Nepal received around 500,000 visitors, including 35,000 Chinese. "We expect that by 2010 the number of Chinese visitors to Nepal would hit 20 percent of all arrivals," said Shrestha.

Following the trip to Lhasa, the NTB and 30 Nepali travel agencies will go to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to stage the further recommendation meetings in August.