When I came through Tribhuvan airport, I observed a few visitor touch points that can be leveraged to better promote Visit Lumbini Year 2012. Unless people already come with a mindset to visit Lumbini, tourism officials can act on 4 crucial points where the visitor(s) could be better informed about Visit Lumbini Year.

First when the airline flight attendant hands out the Customs Declarations form to be filled out, a simple one page handout could be given highlighting that its Visit Lumbini Year 2012 and urging visitors to consider going to Lumbini. This way before travellers land on the airport, they will already be aware of the promotion and might start thinking about visiting the site. Second, coming towards Customs, currently there is a big banner mentioning its Visit Nepal 2011. This should be replaced with Visit Lumbini Year 2012.

Third, on the Customs table there should be a small calendar or a guide that visitors can take to learn more about the promotion. Placing the information guide at the Customs table will remind the traveller of the tourism campaign. Lastly when leaving the Baggage claim area, there should be a Visitor Information Booth that interested parties can go to learn more about how to get to Lumbini, what events are planned for the year, what can they expect from going to Lumbini and transportation schedules to and from Lumbini.

All these simple strategies can help Visit Lumbini Year 2012 tremendously. If the goal is to seriously make Visit Lumbini Year 2012 a success, then there needs to be a consistent and coherent message being promoted everywhere it can be. You can't control the visitors actions but you can certainly encourage them to visit Lumbini.