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Highlander AUGUST Newsletter

We hope this finds you doing well and enjoying summer. It's very good to see that the political situation in Nepal is moving forward in a constructive manner. Prachanda, Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M), was elected the first prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal by the Constituent Assembly (CA).

We are all well prepared and expanded our team for the upcoming season..

Breaking News

More than 50,000 people are now reported to have fled their homes after a dam collapsed in south-eastern Nepal, officials say.

Southeastern Nepal is undergoing misfortune and painful situation created by full inundation of three Village Development Committees (VDCs) and four other VDCs partially submerged in Sunsari district, some 220 km southeast of capital Kathmandu, after the embankment of Saptakoshi River suddenly broke down, affecting more than 50,000 people while displacing thousands.

"For the time being, the people are in desperate need of relief from poverty and hunger. Leaders of the Nepal Communist Party- Maoists, UML, Nepali Congress, Civil society members and experts have blamed India for floods in Sunsari district caused by the breach of Koshi afflux embankment.

Visitor Arrivals in July 2008 (by air only)

The arrival figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport shows that visitor arrivals to Nepal increased by 3% with total 198,366 visitors till July 2008 in comparison to the same period last year. However, the arrival figures of July, 2008 compared to the same month last year has decreased by 19% to 21,203.

Asian countries Singapore and Malaysia maintained the positive trend with 13% growth in the each market. The other countries with positive growth are Pakistan (53%) and Sri Lanka (18%).

India, which is the largest tourist generating market, registered a decline of 24%. Similarly other major markets such as USA, Japan, and UK also witnessed decrease by 15%, 12% and 2% respectively. Furthermore, China, South Korea, and Thailand also recorded negative growth.

European arrivals also suffered a significant decline in the visitor arrivals from major generating markets such as Italy (44 %), France (32%), Germany (39%) and Spain (25%). Only Austria (35%) and Norway (66%) maintained the incremental trend in the arrival figures. (source:NTB)

Highlander Trekking & Expeditions, P. O Box 10987, Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal, Tel : 4700563, Fax : 977-1-4701889
Email : info@highlandernepal.com, Web: ww.highlandernepal.com