I do! A base camp around Mount Everest could be the setting for same-sex weddings... Nepal, known for offering some of the world's best trekking, is the latest destination to reach out and bid for a slice of the 'pink pound'.
The traditionally conservative Hindu nation is looking to the gay travel market to boost its tourism income and help pull it out of poverty.
The far eastern country, which includes the highest peaks of the Himalayas within its boundaries, has said it would be happy to host the world's highest same-sex wedding at Everest base camp
Tourism is one of the main drivers of Nepal's economy, worth about £228 million last year, and government officials are determined to double tourism to 1 million visitors next year.
They hope gay tourists will be far more lucrative than the backpackers who stay in cheap hotels and travel on shoestring budgets.
Stepping up tourism: Nepal is hoping to target gay travellers who are interested in more active holidays"They do have a lot of income...they are high-spending consumers," said Aditya Baral, spokesman for the Nepal Tourism Board. "If they behave well, if they have money, we don't discriminate."
The driving force behind the tourism push is Sunil Pant, a member of parliament, the nation's most prominent gay activist and founder of the Pink Mountain tour company.
"The nation's mountains, food and culture are a natural tourist magnet", says Pant. Additionally, gay tourists could get married at Everest base camp and honeymoon on an elephant safari — though since Nepal doesn't marry foreigners, such weddings would have no legal status, he said.
"I think there would certainly be a niche within our community that would be very excited for this type of memorable experience," he adds.
Pant also explains that Nepal has a big advantage in appealing to this niche market because neighbouring countries in South Asia - some of them with laws against homosexuals - are not seen as gay-friendly destinations.
"There is virtually no competition," he said.
Nepal's own journey into gay acceptance has been a near-revolution, born out of chaos and conflict that decimated the nation's traditional political and social systems.
A few years ago, the kingdom was torn by a civil war between the government and Maoist insurgents, and fighters on both sides preyed on marginalised communities.
Despite the rapid gains, Pant recognizes the nation's sensitivities, and wants to ensure that an influx of gay tourists doesn't turn Nepal into a sex tourism destination.
"They should come for the trekking, mountaineering, the culture, food... and for weddings, of course," he said.
source: dailymail
