According to Bikas Lam­sal, Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment for Gandaki, Rs 5 million budget has been apportioned for each of the three projects.

Lamsal says the provin­cial government is thinking beyond developing the prov­ince capital of Pokhara and is analyzing new projects in other districts of the province as well. This is being done in the lead up to the inter­national investment confer­ence the province is hosting in March 2019.

The provincial government has set aside a total of Rs 80 million for the Fewa Lake Conservation Program, which includes the three projects, and is working in collabora­tion with Pokhara munici­pality, according to Diwakar Poudel, the ministry spokes­person. By 2022, the pro­vincial government aims to welcome two million interna­tional tourists to Gandaki.

According to province government, tourists in Pokhara stay for an average of 2.5 days

The province foreign minis­try informs that tourists tend to stay for an average of 2.5 days in Pokhara. By introduc­ing new man-made tourist attractions without disrupting the natural beauty of the area, the goal is to make them stay longer. Local tourism entre­preneurs believe adventure activities such as paragliding, ultra-light aviation, bungee jumping, zip flying, canoeing and rafting have contributed to prolonging the Pokhara stay of tourists. The new attrac­tions will persuade even more folks to do so, they say.

Gandaki needs the permis­sion of the federal government for these endeavors as Phe­watal falls under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance and Raniban forests is an ecologi­cally diverse zone. A Detailed Project Report is being pre­pared while waiting for the final permission.

Tour operators in Pokhara say that recently trekkers have been taking buses to Manang and Mustang from Kathmandu. They treat Pokhara only as a brief tran­sit before their return to the national capital. Data shows that 64 percent of interna­tional tourists come to Nepal for trekking.