PATA Annual Summit and Adventure Mart 2023 to be held in Pokhara

POKHARA, March 23:Pokhara, Nepal's main tourist destination, will host the Pacific Asia Travel Association's annual summit for the first time (PATA).

PATA International's summit and adventure travel market will take place in Pokhara from May 29 to June 1 for the first time since Nepal joined in 1975. Chief Executive Officer of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Dhananjay Regmi, said.

The Pokhara Tourism Council will serve as the local coordinator of the program under the main project of the Nepal Government, Nepal Tourism Board, and PATA, according to information provided at a press conference held on Wednesday in Pokhara.

The initial organizing committee for the summit was created under the leadership of the secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, who also serves as the chairman of the NTB. The committee's members are from various tourism-related organizations.

The mart and the summit, according to Regmi, the NTB's chief executive officer, will mark significant turning points for Nepal's overall tourism industry, particularly for Pokhara and the Gandaki province's tourism, which is expanding following the Covid-19. He claims that the program will give Nepali and foreign businesses a chance to come together and collaborate on the same platform.

He stated, "Nepal will host the Adventure Mart for the third time, and the PATA Summit for the first time. We anticipate that the program will boost tourism in Nepal. This is expected to increase tourist arrivals, and by the end of 2023, Nepal's tourism will have returned to pre-Covid-19 levels."

PATA executive board members, as well as destination chiefs from 15 countries, will attend the summit. It is anticipated that the prestigious PATA Summit, which Nepal will host for the first time, will increase awareness of Nepal and Pokhara on a global scale.

At Adventure Mart, 300 international representatives from all over the world will participate in an in-depth discussion on sustainable tourism, crisis management, air safety, adventure, and mountain tourism Suman Pandey is the secretary of PATA International said.

The program will make Pokhara's tourism industry more sustainable, according to Dhanraj Acharya, Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality, who also pledged that the city will provide the necessary support.

Kashiram Bhandari, director of Nepal Tourism Board, Gandaki Province, believes that after the PATA program, Nepal's tourism will reach the status of 2019-2020.

Sanjay Kant Sigdel, general secretary of the Pokhara Tourism Council, stated that following the program, in which famous bloggers will also participate, a visit to Lumbini, Chitwan, Bardia, Jomsom, and other locations has been planned.