Submit your Article

The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has announced the celebration of 'Nepal-ASEAN Tourism Year 2026' on the occasion of its 27th establishment day.

Delivering a welcoming speech at the inaugural ceremony, Board’s Chief Executive Officer Deepak Raj Joshi said ASEAN countries are a high-potential market for Nepal, unveiling a special strategy targeting 2026.

According to Joshi, more than 170,000 tourists from ASEAN countries have visited Nepal so far, describing the region as a large and long-term market.

“Nepal will be established strongly in the ASEAN market through Buddhist and spiritual tourism, nature and adventure tourism, wellness and Ayurveda, culture and community-based tourism,” he said.

Mukunda Niraula, Secretary at Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation chaired the program.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Anil Kumar Sinha was the chief guest and Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens Shraddha Shrestha was the special guest of the event.

Joshi said tourist arrivals are projected to reach 1.16 million in 2025, up about 3 percent from last year.

According to him, 31 tourism marts, 12 branding and corporate activities, and more than 20 MICE programs have been completed by 2025.

He also said that tourism promotion was carried out through live broadcasts from eight main tourist destinations, travel information was published in nine languages, 69 tourism infrastructures were developed, and 41 programs and development activities were conducted from the east to the far west after the GenZ protests.

The NTB also revealed seven major travel destinations expected to shape Nepal’s tourism in 2026.

The country has witnessed a partial effect of westerly wind. 

Most of the places in the Tarai belt are predicted to have foggy weather, according to the Weather Forecasting Division.

Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces and the mountainous regions are likely to be partly cloudy, while light rainfall and snowfall are forecasted in few places of high hills and mountains of Koshi, Gandaki and Karnali Provinces..

The weather service has urged the concerned sectors to maintain cautions in road and air travels owing to foggy and cloudy weather. 

The minimum temperature was recorded 5 degree Celsius in the Kathmandu Valley this morning. 

The maximum temperature will fluctuate between 17 and 18 degree Celsius today.

Teaching and learning activities have been disrupted in the schools of Sunsari district due to the cold wave. .

All local levels have closed both the community and institutional schools for three days- from Wednesday to Friday. 

Itahari Sub-metropolis informed that it shut down  the schools, mentioning the closure as part of winter vacation. 

Chief of education section in the sub-metropolis, Ramesh Kumar Sah, shared that the schools were given holidays for three days to prevent effects of cold in the children's health.

The schools in Inaruwa, Koshi Rural Municipalities, Harinagar Ramdhuni, and Duhabi, among others are also closed. The closure would be managed under various other annual holidays.

The local levels have also urged the guardians to keep their children at home and adopt precaution to stay away from cold waves. 

Stakeholders have concluded that no government agency has shown interest in the conservation, management and trade promotion of Himalayan herbs. The program was organized by NSAP Nepal and Forest Consumers Federation Nepal at the district headquarters Gamgadhi where participants expressed serious concerns about the ambiguity of the main jurisdiction between the Division Forest Office, National Park Office and the local level, the poor assessment of the productivity and ecological limits of Mugu forests, and the neglect of the livelihoods and local economy associated with herbal collection at the policy level.

Although the Nepal government has generally set the herbal collection period as October-November which is practically not a period due to the harsh climate, high altitude and remoteness of the Himalayan region. Herbalist Jigmet Lama said that the current policies are largely based on academic literature, and that the traditional knowledge, experience, and skills of herbalists are not formally recognized.

Similarly, while it is appropriate to make land registration mandatory for herbal cultivation and implement similar provisions for wild products, the government should provide loans to herbalists at subsidized rates through banks and cooperatives under its business support firm, while the multi-tax system and complex land and forest ownership system are creating obstacles in business promotion, said Soru Rural Municipality Chairperson Dharma Bahadur Shahi.

Stating that the herbal sector is not a priority for the state, Mayor Bishnu Kumar Bham of Chhayanath Rara Municipality said, “Herbs are a major potential for the Himalayan district, but it has not been properly addressed at all three levels, policy, budget, and program.” Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality Chairperson Tshiring Kapne Lama said that if traditional knowledge is not documented, there is a risk of losing skills that have been used for generations.

Manjan Bahadur Karki, head of the District Coordination Committee Mugu, said that an institutional mechanism is needed for monitoring and improvement, and said that herbal conservation is not possible without a clear division of responsibilities between the local government, forest office and community forest. Mel Bahadur Shahi, president of the Forest Consumers Federation Mugu, said that although there is a large market potential for Himalayan herbs, the expected benefits have not been realized due to lack of processing and value addition. Himalayan herbs can be a strong foundation for Nepal’s economic prosperity, but the sector is neglected due to the lack of policy, investment and market certainty.