A gay politician in Nepal wants you to wed beneath the world’s highest peak.
Tourism is one of the main drivers of Nepal’s economy, worth about £228 million last year, and government officials are determined to double tourism to 1 million visitors next year.
They hope gay tourists will be far more lucrative than the backpackers who stay in cheap hotels and travel on shoestring budgets.
Stepping up tourism: Nepal is hoping to target gay travellers who are interested in more active holidays
“They do have a lot of income…they are high-spending consumers,” said Aditya Baral, spokesman for the Nepal Tourism Board. “If they behave well, if they have money, we don’t discriminate.”
The driving force behind the tourism push is Sunil Pant, a member of parliament, the nation’s most prominent gay activist and founder of the Pink Mountain tour company.
“The nation’s mountains, food and culture are a natural tourist magnet”, says Pant. Additionally, gay tourists could get married at Everest base camp and honeymoon on an elephant safari — though since Nepal doesn’t marry foreigners, such weddings would have no legal status, he said. …
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In a totally unrelated story, The Adventure Blogger, Kraig Becker, is planning on a trek to Base Camp during the Spring “flower” season.
In a totally unrelated photo, aren’t fishing babes wonderful?
Those Great Outdoors bloggers are still O.K.
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