Visit Lumbini Year launched

Thursday, 26 January 2012 18:07

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The Visit Lumbini Year 2012 was launched amidst a ceremony held at the central canal in Lumbini, the birth place of the Buddha, in central Nepal, in the second week of January.

President Dr Ram Baran Yadav inaugurate the event which was attended by more than 5,000 people, that include diplomats, senior government officials and other representatives of trade and tourism organizations.

The campaign follows the one-year long tourism campaign by the Himalayan countries, which attracted a record number of tourists. In this campaign too, the government aims to attract over a million foreign tourists, most of them being foreigners. As per the official data, more than 600,000 tourists visited the birthplace of Buddha in 2011.

Given religious pilgrimage becoming a key component of tourism activity in Nepal, the government aims to promote tourism through the birth place of Buddha, and give global recognition to Lumbini through the campaign. “The declaration of VLY is to convey Buddha’s message of peace to the world,” said the President, speaking on the occasion. “Its objective is also to encourage Nepalis through Buddha’s message of peace for timely drafting of the constitution,” he added, urging all to help make the event a success.

The Visit Lumbini Year has been envisaged as a driver to position Nepal as a safe and happening destination in the world. According to the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal is becoming a major spiritual tourism destination for East Asian travellers attracted by Lumbini. Although not much attention has been paid to marketing and promoting Buddhist sites, the number of religious visitors has been growing each year.