Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) — along with the Nepali private sector — participated in the 30th edition of Borsa Internazionale del Tourismo (BIT) at Rho Fieromilano Trade Fair Complex, Milan, Italy on February 18-21.

The first two days of the fair were devoted to buyers from all around the world while the last two days were open for people. BIT, one of the top tourism fairs in the world, has this year become an ideal platform for new ideas, new market segments and niches for operators.

A total of 130 countries showcased their tourism products and services. This year, turnout overwhelmingly exceeded the 150,000-plus figure.

The Nepal stall attracted a huge numbers of enthusiastic buyers, media and the general public alike. Buyers were more focused on procedures to visit Nepal while general public queried about issues of connectivity, security, frontier formalities and possibilities of combining tours with India and Tibet.

On February 20, CESVI, an Italian NGO working in Nepal in areas of responsible tourism development in the Sagarmatha region, in collaboration with NTB and Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) organizing a workshop on responsible tourism. TAAN President Sitaram Sapkota made a presentation on responsible tourism in Nepal and Trekkers’ Information Management System (TIMS).

Likewise, NTB made a presentation on Nepal Tourism Year 2011 and appealed to the Italian media and tour operators to help make the campaign a grand success.