Kathmandu : Registration is now open for the Rainbow Tourism Conference that is for the first time taking place in Nepal on April 20-21, 2024. Organised by Mayako Pahichan Nepal in collaboration with various organisations including the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the venue for the event is Aloft Hotel in Thamel.

Interest people can participate at https://www.mayakopahichan.com/participate.

Mayako Pahichan Nepal has been actively advocating for the rights of the sexual and gender minority communities and exploring the potential of rainbow tourism. Notably, in collaboration with NTB and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), it has recently concluded a national consultation on the potential of inclusive (rainbow) tourism in the country.

NTB has appointed Sunil Babu Pant, the Asia’s first openly gay former parliamentarian of Nepal and the executive director for the Mayako Pahichan Nepal, as a cultural ambassador for the promotion of inclusive (rainbow) tourism.

Pant has joined hands to promote rainbow tourism along with justice and equality for the world’s sexual and gender minorities.

First Rainbow Tourism International Conference 2024: Registration officially opens

Through this conference, Nepal is gearing up to welcome sexual and gender minority communities from around the world, he observed while emphasising the potential of rainbow tourism to contribute to the poverty alleviation and economic growth.

Nepal stands out to be a friendly nation for the sexual and gender minorities without discrimination. In that view, Nepal can gain economic benefits from rainbow tourism by becoming a honeymoon destination for sexual and gender minority couples, said Pant.

Nepal has become the first country in South Asia to legally register rainbow marriage. Maya Gurung and Surendra Pandey have legally registered their first same-sex marriage in Lamjung’s Dordi Rural Municipality.