The first International Rainbow Tourism Conference opened in Kathmandu on Saturday last week, with Nepal offering itself as a safe and respectful destination in South Asia for the sexual minority community.
The single-day international conference was organised by Mayako Pahichan Nepal, a non-governmental organisation. “This pioneer event organised by Mayako Pahichan Nepal in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board marks a significant milestone in promoting diversity and inclusivity within the tourism industry,” reads a press release issued ahead of the event.
“We are thrilled to host the first rainbow tourism conference in Nepal,” said the executive director of Mayako Pahichan Nepal, Sunil Babu Pant, also the first Parliament Member from the LGBT community.
“This conference represents a critical step forward in creating a tourism industry that marks diversity and embraces inclusivity,” he said “Nepal can be a perfect destination for pink tourism as the country’s constitution recognises the rights of the LGBT community,” he added.
The conference’s main objective is to position Nepal as an LGBT-friendly tourism destination. The international conference was inaugurated by Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Bhagawati Chaudhary, who underlined the need to forge collaboration among different stakeholders to promote LGBT tourism in Nepal.
She said that so far, 3,100 people belonging to the LGBT community have been formally registered in Nepal, though the exact number of people belonging to the community is much higher than that.
Asserting that Nepal has formulated many laws guaranteeing equal treatment and a violence-free atmosphere for the sexual minority community, Chaudhary said that there is a need to pay attention to their effective implementation.
