The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has extended by another two months the Nepal Festival of Life (NFL) promotional campaign to attract Indian tourists after the three month campaign ended Tuesday.
The NTB started the campaign in India after arrivals started declining following the Christmas eve 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines Airbus by suspected Kashmiri militants while on a regular flight to New Delhi from Kathmandu.
The arrivals dipped by an unprecedented 72 percent in June after the June 1 carnage at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace in which King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya were killed.
The NFL gives Indian visitors discounts and incentives at hotels, restaurants and shopping malls, among other things.