Run for Tourism with Mira Rai

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Mira Rai, a 23-old Nepali woman from a tiny hilltop village of Western Nepal, is promoting Nepal in the international arena through trail running. Being a woman in Nepal, and trying to come forward in the sports sector is a challenging endeavor, but Mira has proved that dedication and determination do yield good results by bringing home many titles including the Mont-Blanc 80 km in April, in which she also set a new record. She has also very recently secured second position in the Ultra Pirineu race which was held in Europe. From hauling water from bottom of the hill in her village to dropping out of school to join Maoist rebels to winning international trail race titles, she has come a long way and is happy that she is setting example for the youngsters of Nepal and also promoting her home country globally.

She is currently working together with the students of NATHM (Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management) in organizing a mini-marathon event entitled “Run for Tourism” on 27 September 2015 (36th World Tourism Day). NATHM is a pioneer institution working under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation for the augmentation and strengthening of the tourism and hospitality sector. The students of Bachelor’s in Travel and Tourism Management (BTTM) faculty of NATHM have initiated this event for the first time with the purpose of celebrating the 36th World Tourism Day and Mira Rai, being a runner herself, is working together with them for the event.

Due to the massive earthquake of Baisakh 2072, the tourism sector of Nepal is facing a major holdup and the message that Nepal can still host her visitors needs to be conveyed to the world. RUN FOR TOURISM is being organized for this very purpose. Another objective of this mini-marathon event is to promote youth-participation in the promotion of Nepalese tourism industry as it (youth participation) is vital for the sustainability of the tourism sector.

The details of Run for Tourism are as follows:

Date: 27 September 2015

Starting time & Venue: 7 am, Basantapur

Ending time (estimated) & Venue: 9 am, NATHM

Route 1: Basantapur – NATHM (6km)

Route 2: Basantapur – Thamel – Patan (13 km)

Highlights: Cultural performances during closing ceremony, prize distribution to marathon winners.

RUN FOR TOURISM is also being organized as a pre-event of the upcoming NATHM TOURISM FESTIVAL which will be organized in December 2015 with the purpose of promoting domestic (especially adventure sports and culture) tourism in Nepal.