Kathmandu. The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has approved the budget for the fiscal year 2082/83 BS. A meeting of the board’s executive committee held recently approved a budget of Rs 1.59 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, said Rishiram Bhandari, coordinator of the budget formulation sub-committee.

He said that the Board has brought its budget and programs with the objective of establishing Nepal’s image in the international tourism community by developing safe, reliable and attractive tourist places. Bhandari, coordinator of the budget sub-committee, said, “In the current fiscal year, the board aims to boost the overall tourism sector by increasing tourist arrivals in Nepal by at least 15 percent.” ’

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board Deepak Raj Joshi said that the budget was focused on areas and programs that would contribute significantly to the promotion of tourism. He said the budget would be useful for the sustainable development of the tourism sector and creating employment opportunities by increasing national production and foreign exchange earnings through the development, expansion and promotion of tourism business.

Similarly, in the current fiscal year, nepal asean tourism year 2026 will be promoted, prioritising quality tourist arrivals and increasing the overall income from tourists by at least 15 percent.

In the current fiscal year, the Board will carry out promotional programmes in at least 50 resource markets, produce additional 5,000 manpower required for the tourism business and preserve at least 25 new tourism infrastructures for the expansion of tourism.

70 percent of the total budget will be spent on international marketing and offices will be opened in India. India is nepal’s main tourist source market, from where more than 400,000 tourists came to Nepal in 2024 alone. To make the Indian market more effective, preparations to open permanent offices in Delhi or other major cities have reached the final stage.

Apart from this, it has also been mentioned in this year’s budget and program to establish provincial offices. The Board has allocated Rs 436.1 million for the management and promotion of the tourism market. Similarly, Rs 129.5 million has been allocated for public relations and publicity, Rs 26.7 million for research, planning and monitoring, and Rs 186.35 million for tourism heritage and resource development.

Similarly, Rs 116.6 million has been allocated for the establishment and operation of a new provincial office, Rs 46.2 million for buddhist travel mart, Himalayan travel mart, adventure travel mart, Sagarmatha Samman programme and safari tourism mart.

The board will conduct promotional programmes in the US, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, and europe. Based on the theme of ‘Nepal: Life Time Experience’, participation in major tourism fairs of the world, digital marketing, collaboration with international media, travel bloggers and media fam tours have been given priority.

The budget has also been allocated for the promotion of domestic tourism along with the international market. According to the budget, various destination promotion programmes will be carried out in collaboration with the state government, local levels and the private sector. For this, the emerging destinations of Far-West, Karnali and Eastern Nepal have been targeted.

The board’s budget also includes digital infrastructure strengthening, research and statistical system empowerment, and tourism-related human resource development programmes. Separate funds have been allocated for tourism-related studies, training, and expert programmes. International fairs, sales missions, digital media campaigns, cine tourism, diaspora connect, branding, and influential programmes will be pursued on priority, according to the budget.

This year’s budget aims to strengthen destination development and local empowerment through programmes such as physical infrastructure construction, trekking route improvement, establishment of Namaste Center, Buddhist destination promotion, training for mountainous areas, green hospitality certification, promotion of domestic tourism, tourism tour operator training, language and digital skills training. Cultural and adventure destinations such as Mithila art, paragliding competition, elephant festival, mountain and jungle safari will also be covered through the budget, said Joshi, CEO of the Promotion Board.

Pokhara Office will run Pokhara Travel Mart, Road Festival, Annapurna and Manaslu Trekking Route Promotion, Tourist Police Training, Basic and Advanced Canyoning Training and Mountain Museum Promotion Program. Publicity programs will also be organized in India, China and South Asian countries.

The budget has focused on a strategy to lay the foundation for sustainable tourism development in the coming decade keeping in mind the aspects of sustainable tourism such as effective implementation of Tourism Information Management System (TIMS) for sustainable tourism, disaster management fund, increasing sensitivity to climate change, research and expanding international cooperation.

Ceo Joshi said, “This budget is not just a calculation of money, it is a roadmap for nepal’s tourism revival. We have developed a market-based strategy and will expand Nepal’s tourism sector in a sustainable manner by collaborating with local and international partners. ’

Chairman of the Board and Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation have also said that the concept of ‘Smart Tourism Nepal’ will be implemented through private sector participation, local level coordination, and international partnership in the coming days.