After facing a couple of years of downturn, the tourism sector, which was once the largest earning industry of the country, is showing signs of revival lately. "Nepal is a safe tourist destination, bestowed with profound natural beauty", tourists visiting the country say these days. An adventure tourist from the United Kingdom, Rosie Swale Pope, was beaming when she explained to the press her trekking feat in the remote hilly and mountainous parts of the country.

"Nepal is beautiful country, with a wonderful gift from Mother Nature," she said. "Unique and marvelous, is what I can say of the natural beauty of this Himalayan Kingdom." Pope had come to the country from the UK just for trekking. She has recently completed her 1700-kilometre trekking, from the west to the east of Nepal, in a period of 69 days. "What I have experienced during my trek was that the country is a safe destination for tourism," she said. "Moreover, the land is home to friendly, happy, smiling people who are never reluctant to help anybody in need of help.

" The trek, organised by Nepal Trust, a registered Scottish charity that works for the promotion of peace, health, and conservation of heritage in the remote Humla district, was promoted by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). Speaking to the pressmen, Pope said that the objectives of the trek were to raise awareness about Humla, help raise funds for the development of the district, promote tourism in remote areas of Nepal and send a message of peace to the world from Nepal. She also expressed her willingness and great desire to encourage as may people across the world to visit Nepal. "I will contribute my best for the promotion of Nepali tourism in the world.

To tell the world that Nepal is a marvelous tourist destination, I will organise press conferences in Austria and England," she said. "In addition, I will be addressing several tourism conferences, where I would urge people to visit Nepal. She added that though the country had been going through a tough time due to the Maoist insurgency, it is still a safe destination for the foreigners. Speaking at the same programme, Subash Nirola, NTB director, thanked Pope on behalf of the NTB and the Nepali people. He also said that any such venture to promote Nepali tourism overseas would be highly beneficial.

OTHER NEWS

• Temba Tshiri fails to climb SLC peak: Temba Tshiri Sherpa, the world's youngest Everest summiteer, failed this year's School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations. Sherpa, who hoped to pass in first division, was taken aback today morning when the Office of the Controller of Examination announced the SLC results nation-wide for over 1,70,000 students.
  
  
• Poaching on the rise in Bardia: Poaching cases in Royal Bardiya National Park (RBNP) have reached an all-time high ever since political instability plagued the country. In the absence of strong anti-poaching action, the park will lose much of the endangered wild life species it boasts of, warn concerned sources. Within a two-month period, 10 one-horned rhinos have been killed inside the park by poachers, who are also very active in smuggling out other endangered animals, including Royal Bengal Tigers, according to sources at the park.
  
  
• HAN suggests measures to revive tourism: A delegation of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) today met Finance Minister Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani and appraised him of several problems of the hotel industry and submitted recommendations for its revival. According to a press release issued here today by HAN, the hoteliers asked the government to reactivate sick industry rehabilitation committee and announce several relief measures to support the ailing hospitality industry.
  
  
• 'Monsoon means more accidents in the air': The monsoon is hovering above us, good news for many of us reeling under the dry spell. But, for the aviation sector, it is always a major headache as it is behind most air accidents. "Most aviation accidents occur during the monsoon," said Riddhi Baba Pradhan, Secretary of Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. 'Therefore for safety enhancement during wet seasons are necessary.'
  
  
• Wildlife technician honoured: Raj Parishad Standing Committee chairman Parshu Narayan Chaudhari honoured Harka Man Lama who is involved in wildlife conservation with a conservation award amid a special function here today. The honoured person, now working as a senior wildlife technician at King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation, started his career as a wildlife technician at Tiger Ecology Project Chitwan in 1974.
  
  

By Hari Shrestha, Resident Representative in Kathmandu