One hundred and eighty Chinese tourists have arrived here on a chartered flight from Himalayan Airlines.

The team of Chinese tourists arrived in Kathmandu on the eve of the Nepali New Year this morning through Nepal Big Mountain Travel.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sudan Kirati, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Chen Song, Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) Dr Dhananjay Regmi, among others, welcomed the Chinese tourists.

Talking to media persons, Minister Kirati said they were very happy to welcome such a large number of Chinese tourists for the first time after the coronavirus pandemic and on the eve of the Nepali New Year.

"Guests are god. We always welcome foreign guests as a god," he mentioned. Minister Kirati expressed the belief that such activities would help further strengthen Nepal-China relations.

Saying there was a great role of the Chinese government in the construction of Pokhara International Airport, he opined that Nepal wanted to directly connect Pokhara International Airport with China by air.

Minister Kirati expressed hope that Chinese tourists would like Nepal as some of the cities of Nepal are similar to Chinese cities.

Similarly, Chinese Ambassador Song said China has allowed Chinese tourists to go abroad after coronavirus came under control. He shared he was very happy to get welcome Chinese tourists to Nepal.

Likewise, CEO Regmi mentioned that with the arrival of Chinese tourists, Nepal's tourism industry, which was hit hard since 2019, is more excited.

Nepal should involve in tourism promotion targeting Chinese and Indian tourists, he added.

Proprietor of Nepal Big Mountain Travel and tourism entrepreneur Sudarshan Nepal expressed happiness over arriving of Chinese tourists after China on March 10 put Nepal on the list of tourism destinations after the coronavirus pandemic.

The Chinese tourists would visit various tourism sites of Kathmandu Valley as well as Poon Hill during their one-week stay in Nepal. (RSS)