Arrivals up 21 pc in Nov

Mountain film festival from Dec 9

Elephant Polo championship begins in Meghauli

Buddha Air to begin Lucknow flights from Jan


Arrivals up 21 pc in Nov
Tourist arrivals to the country via air in the month of Novermber increased by 21.5 percent to 48,331 as compared to the arrival figures of same period last year.
According to Immigration Office at Tribhuvan International Airport, arrivals from the South Asia region inncreased by 55.5 percent, thanks to healthy contribution from Bangladesh (80.7 percent), India (52.9 percent) and Sri Lanka (44.2 percent). Similarly, arrivals from Asia (except South Asia) grew by 8.8 percent with Japan (14.5 percent), Malaysia (16.4 percent), and South Korea (44.9 percent) and Thailand (154.3 percent) posting strong growth.

However, arrivals from China and Singapore registered negative growths of 3.8 percent and 5.5 percent respectively. Europe registered an overall growth of 8.6 percent thanks to growth from France (8.3 percent), Germany (25.7 percent), Italy (3.2 percent), the Netherlands (9.1 percent), Russia (1.5 percent), Spain (16.8 percent), Sweden (13.4 percent) and UK (4.9 percent).

Arrvials from Australia and New Zealand increased by 10.8 percent and 30.2 percent respectively, while arrivals from USA and Canada grew by 39.2 percent and 31.5 percent respectively.
Total tourist arrivals to the country in the first 11 months of 2010 reached 412,446 tourists.


Mountain film festival from Dec 9
Himal Association is organizing the 8th Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) in Kathmandu from December 9-13. A total of 62 films from 35 countries covering a wide array of issues, including conflict, culture, climbing, wildlife, environment, globalization, gender, development and lifestyle, will be screened at the City Hall and the Nepal Tourism Board, according to the association. Twenty films will be screened in the international competition category, 36 in the international non-competitive category, and six films in Nepal Panorama category.
The top three films in the international competitive category will receive cash awards of $1,500, $1,000 and $500 respectively. A three-member jury comprising British climber and author Terry Gifford, Chinese filmmaker Li Wenming and British climber David Durkan
will judge the best films.

The event will also feature other programs including a photo exhibition "Manang: 30 Years After" by Czech photographers Michal Thoma and Zdenek Thoma and slide presentation/lecture, film-making workshop, animation workshop and alternative book exhibition, among others.

Elephant Polo championship begins in Meghauli
The 29th Elephant Polo Chamionship 2010 kicked off at the Meghauli ground in Chitwan district on November 29. A total eight teams are particpating in the annual event.
The event was organised in Bardiya National Park last year after the government directed hotels and restaurants to vacate national parks due to widlife security problem.

The championship is organised every year by Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge and Weold Elephant Polo Association.

Participating teams this year are National Park Team Nepal, Tiger Tops, Tusker Iceland, Pokka Chukka, British Gurkhas and teams from Scotland, UAE and Afghanistan are participating in the event.

The final will be played on December 5, according to the organisers.


Buddha Air to begin Lucknow flights from Jan
Buddha Air is starting its flight to Indian city of Lucknow from January 7. It will be the airline's second international destination after Paro, Bhutan.
The airline will fly Lucknow three times a week on Sundays, Wednesdays and Friday with 47-seater ATR-42 aircraft. But the airline will use 72-seater ATR aircraft depending on the demand. It has fixed Rs 5,600 (excluding tax) as the one way fare.

Buddha Air is also planning to introduce flights to other Indian cities like Guwahati, Kolkata, Patna, Varansi, Gorakhpur and Deharadun in the near future.

The revised Air Service Agreement (ASA) with INdia allows private carriers of both the countries to start cross-border flights to make air travel cheaper.


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