A total of 97 mountaineering expedition teams comprising 1,432 members from various countries are climbing different peaks of Nepal this season, according to Department of Tourism. Out of 97,34 teams have set out to the world's highest peak Mount Everest.

"The mountaineering tourism did not slide down and continued to attract tourists despite of the last year's devastating earthquake", Tourism Department's Director General Sudarshan Prasad Dhakal said on Monday.

The government has opened permission for the expedition to 476 different peaks.

Department of Tourism, the authoritative body to issue climbing permits for Mt. Everest, has issued climbing permits to 289 climbers for the Mt Everest alone after a halt of two consecutive years.

April-May is the major climbing season to the world's highest peak and other peaks like Mount Lhotse, Annapurna,Makalu and Mount Nuptse in the Himalayan country.

The arrival of remarkable number of mountaineers in the country that is struggling to revive the quake-devastated tourism has raised a new hope among the tourism entrepreneurs.

Only on Sunday, the government on its annual policy and programs declared the year 2018 as the

Visit Nepal Year with a target of bringing in some one million tourists.