Six places on three trips to Nepal were won by travel agents attending the recent Nepal Tourism Board roadshows in Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol.
Prizes given away at each roadshow, including an eight-day tour in Nepal for the winner and a colleague.
The events were organised by UK travel marketing consultancy The Adventure Connection, and attracted specialist tour operators, travel agents and media.
Aditya Baral, NTB director, updated the trade with news from Nepal and provided information to help to increase bookings to the mountain kingdom.
He also announced that Nepal will be hosting the Himalayan Travel Mart again in 2019, and invited the trade to apply for places.
The travel mart and conference will be held in Kathmandu (June 7-9) and offers operators the chance to experience Nepal and meet destination management companies, DMCs, local suppliers, accommodation providers and airlines.
Tourist arrivals from the UK topped 63,000 in 2018 – up 15% year-on-year – and overall numbers rose by 25% to almost 1.2 million.
The Nepalese government hopes numbers will reach two million next year, and it has launched an initiative called ‘Visit Nepal 2020 – Lifetime Experience’ to encourage more visitors.
Hailing the events as a success, a spokesperson for the NTB said many contacts in the UK travel trade have identified Nepal as a growth area for 2019, and the roadshows are expected to help the country reach its 2020 target of two million visitors.