India-Nepal Tourism Meet Focuses on Enhancing Cross-Border Travel

The Embassy of India in Kathmandu, in collaboration with the Nepal Tourism Board, hosted the inaugural India-Nepal Tourism Meet, which centered on promoting the Mahakumbh 2025 in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.

The event aimed to establish B2B connections and promote circuit tourism between India and Nepal. It was graced by Arun Kumar Chaudhary, the Minister of State for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation of Nepal, who served as the Chief Guest. The session, held on Tuesday, was officially opened by Prasanna Shrivastava, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, and Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO of the Nepal Tourism Board, as mentioned in a statement from the Indian Embassy.

In his remarks, Prasanna Shrivastava, Charge D' Affairs, Embassy of India, underscored the developments in physical and digital connectivity that are driving higher tourism flows between India and Nepal. He also stressed on continued joint efforts of both sides to fully leverage the India-Nepal tourism potential, including through promotion of religious and cultural circuits involving places in Nepal and the neighboring states of India.

In his opening remarks, Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO, Nepal Tourism Board appreciated that India was the biggest source of foreign tourists visiting Nepal and highlighted the various initiatives taken by the Nepal Tourism Board to foster India-Nepal tourism.

Chief Guest Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Arun Kumar Chaudhary in his remarks mentioned that cross border tourism especially through land routes is a big contributor to tourism in Nepal even though not totally captured in formal statistics. He also suggested that both sides need to focus on cross border connectivity particularly in remote areas such as in the Sudurpaschim Province.

Tourism Officer from Government of Uttar Pradesh, Kirti, delivered a resentation on Mahakumbh 2025 that showcased the importance of the event especially for Nepalese devotees.

The B2B event at the Meet was attended by 13 delegates from India and 60 tour operators from Nepal. The discussions focused on promoting cross-border tourism especially through the land route. Tour operators from both sides deliberated on possible travel plans for visitors from both sides including in the context of Ramayana and Buddhist circuits.

As part of the program, Nepal Tourism Board had organized a familiarization trip for visiting delegates and tour operators from the state of Uttar Pradesh to Janakpur and Kathmandu.