Kathmandu, Nov. 3: Nepal has been honoured with the 'Best Response to the Pandemic' Gold Award from the United Kingdom for its outstanding work in rescuing stranded foreign tourists during the COVID pandemic.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board, the award was given to Nepal at a function organized by the world-renowned Wonderlast Magazine at Kensington Palace Gardens in the United Kingdom on Tuesday. The award was handed over to Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Prem Bahadur Ale in a ceremony on the occasion of World Travel Mart (WTM) in London.

Nepal has received the award surpassing nine countries nominated for the award. Minister Ale, Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism Yadav Prasad Koirala, Executive Chief of the Board Dr. Dhananjay Regmi and six Nepali tourism entrepreneurs participated in the WTM organized from November 1 to 3, 2021, the Board said in a statement today.

During the lockdown, the government had rescued 1,721 stranded foreign tourists at 33 different destinations in the country under the coordination of COVID-19 Crisis Management Coordination Center (CCMC), District Administration Office, Tourist Police, local level and tourism related organizations. Similarly, the NTB, in coordination with various diplomatic missions in Nepal, had assisted in repatriating more than 5,000 foreign tourists through repatriation flights.