Malla Travel & Trek Services

The month of May brings fulfillment to the ambitions of the mountain climbers. This is the month they get to summit the Himalayan peaks such as Mt. Everest. For the rest of the tourists coming to Nepal in the summer, nature provides bountiful greenery and our culture showcases a variety of colorful festivals in Kathmandu Valley. The Trans-Himalayan region opens up with possibility of visiting Jomsom and Muktinath. For the more adventurous Upper Mustang, our little Tibet, awaits.

With Warm Regards,

Subodh Rana
Chief Executive Officer

Destination News

NTY2011 Publicity in London

As part of promoting Nepal Tourism Year 2011 in London, the Embassy of Nepal and the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) together have started a publicity campaign by placing advertisements on city buses. Adverts have been placed on 13 buses covering 21 major inter-city routes across London. The three-week promotional campaign aims to cover key central London locations at all times ensuring that the campaign is always in busy, high populated areas reaching a large number of shoppers and commuters, added the NTB.

As part of the NTY promotional campaign, the Nepal Embassy has published advertisements in Geographical, the official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society which has a readership of over 105,000. The UK is the third largest source market for Nepal after India and the US.

Everest Marathon

Nepali athletes dominated the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon 2011 in both men´s and women´s categories. The marathon is being held annually at the highest altitude in the world since May 29, 2003. Sylvia Zaskowiee from Poland created a new history by becoming the first woman to win the marathon under the foreign category. The cross-country skier from Poland finished the marathon in 5 hours 34 minutes 6 seconds.

“It is the best day in my life. It is incredible because I didn´t expect it. It´s a big surprise,” she said after winning the title. A participant of the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010, Zaskowiee switched to marathon after she broke her left arm last summer.

Buuddha Jayanti Celebrated

The 2555th Buddha Jayanti, birth anniversary of Lord Gautama Buddha, was celebrated on May 17 across the nation. The day is celebrated in all the Buddhist nations rejoicing the enlightenment or Nirvana of Lord Buddha. The celebration is particularly joyful for us Nepalese as the birthplace of Buddha is in Lumbini located in Southern Nepal and the religion spread into Tibet and China from Nepal. Lumbini today is classified under UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is being developed as a Buddhist Pilgrimage Center with all Buddhist nations of the world participating by erecting their own temples and monasteries.

Nepal Tourism Year 2011

Visitor arrivals (by air) to Nepal in May this year increased by 47.1 per cent to 39,179 as compared to the figures of the same month last year, according to the figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

An overall positive growth of 10.5 per cent was observed from the European markets with arrivals from major generating markets such as the UK (+1.4%), France (+37.9%), Germany (+6.3%), Italy (+34.8%), Spain (+4.3%), Sweden (+25.3%), Switzerland (+57.1%) and Russia (+31.6%) all showing positive results. But the arrivals from Japan decreased by 15 per cent.

In the first five months this year, international tourist arrivals to Nepal increased by 22.9 per cent to 208,137.

Happenings

IMEX, Frankfurt

This year the 9th IMEX Show was organized in Frankfurt, Germany May 24-26. There is confidence returning to this segment as attested to by the record number of exhibitors and hosted buyers. There were 3,900 European and long-haul hosted buyers. The strength and depth of this year's hosted buyer programme was demonstrated by the presence of corporate buyers from all of the major industry sectors including American Express, Citibank, Credit Suisse and Nomura International from finance and banking; Danone, Nestle, PepsiCo, Proctor & Gamble from consumer products; Oracle, Cisco, SAP and Siemens from technology and, from the automobile sector, Volkswagen AG, Renault and Bugatti Automobiles. Management consultants were also out in force with international buyers present from Ernst & Young, KPMG and McKinsey. Buyers attending from the pharmaceutical sector included Lilly, Merck and Pfizer.

Malla Travel jointly exhibited with Soaltee Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kathmandu and made presentations to over 40 incentive houses.

Int'l Sagarmatha (Everest) Day

The 4th International Sagarmatha Day was celebrated in Nepal by organizing various events on May 29. Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation awarded Sagarmatha National Award 2011 to Mingma Sherpa of Sankhuwasabha District. Sherpa is the first Nepali mountaineer to climb all 14 peaks of the world higher than 8,000 meters. The award carries a purse of Rs.100,000.00 and a citation. Sherpa joins a list of accomplished climbers such as Reinhold Messner (Italy), Jerzy Kukuczka (Poland) and Erhard Loretan (Switzerland).

Nepal has been celebrating May 29 as International Sagarmatha Day to commemorate the first ascent of Mt Everest back in 1953.

Nepali Women Mountaineers create news!

Four Nepali women climbed Annapurna IV on May 31, 2011. This is the first time that Nepali women have climbed Annapurna IV. Nima Rai, 30, and Shantikala Rai, 29, of Solukhumbu, Minu Gurung, 24, of Morang and Saraswati BK, 27, of Pokhara were successful in climbing the 7,52-metre mountain.

Meanwhile, 27-year-old Chhurim Sherpa from Taplejung district has reached the summit of Mt. Everest two times within 11 days. No woman has climbed Mt Everest twice even in one season, but a brave lady Sherpa made it. She was in the summit of Everest on 12 and 19 May.

Hospitality

Ker & Downey Nepal

The outfitters offer the finest, most complete adventure programs in Nepal.Located in the Annapurna mountain areas they offer walking trails using purpose built lodges constructed and managed by an American company with 20 years experience in both Africa and Nepal. All lodges are a day’s walk apart and allow guests to experience in comfort some of the most spectacular mountain vistas in the world. Ker and Downey offer the programs that allow guests to experience the magnificent scenery in style and comfort whilst staying in en suite rooms with comfortable beds with sheets, blankets, down pillows and hot water bottles.

Air Miles

China Southern Airlines

Starting 1st July 2011 the airline is operating daily direct flights between Guangzhou and Kathmandu with an Airbus 319 aircraft with total seating capacity of 115 seats including 8 business class seats. The airline offers excellent connections from our tourist generating countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and West Coast USA. China Southern is the largest airline in Asia with a fleet of 420 modern aircrafts and ranked as the largest Four Star carrier. The airline is a member of Sky Team. This news augers well for the remaining months of Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

Your Agency News

Annual Office Picnic

Staff of the Malla Travel & Trek Services enjoyed a day out amidst the stunning scenery of Nagarkot. For the annual picnic the venue was The Fort Resort, one of our top choices for tourists who are looking for rustic ambience without compromising on comfort and service. Individual cabins offer great views and complete privacy.