Nepal 'to stage gay weddings on Everest'

Nepal is set to stage same-sex weddings on Mount Everest as part of a bid to promote the country as the homosexual tourism capital of Asia.
By Dean Nelson in New Delhi
Published: 4:59PM GMT 19 Jan 2010

Nepal's homosexual community, which is led by Asia's only openly gay member of parliament, will next month host a tourism conference to explore how to attract wealthy gay visitors to boost the country's war-ravaged economy.

The country's new constitution will legalise homosexual marriage in May this year, when "Pink Mountain" will begin offering luxury honeymoon and wedding packages.

Sunil Babu Pant, a Communist legislator and leader of the country's homosexual rights movement, has launched a travel company dedicated to promoting the former Hindu kingdom to gay tourists in an effort to tap the so-called "Pink Pound" and dollar.

The company will offer elephant-back bridal processions, Everest base camp ceremonies and weddings in remote Tibetan enclaves in the Himalayan republic.

Mr Pant is hoping to build on the government's new determination to maximise income from tourism by targeting all potential markets. The country's tourism minister wrote a welcome statement for the International Conference on Gay and Lesbian Tourism in Boston last October, in which he said he believed Nepal will benefit from an increase in gay visitors.

Mr Pant has said if Nepal can attract ten per cent of the world's gay tourists, its economy would receive a significant boost.

"Most Asian countries don't welcome gay visitors, so we can have the maximum benefit for the Nepal economy which is fragile after years of war.

"The government is hoping to increase the number of tourists from 400,000 to one million next year and has taken a positive attitude to welcoming gay and lesbian visitors to help meet their ambitious target," he told The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.

(lu sur Telegraph.co.uk)