1950s 'Visit Kathmandu' Nepal Tourism Poster

Until the 1950s, Nepal was closed off to international visitors. However, following the end of the Rana rule, the new Nepalese government recognized tourism as a key vehicle of development. When Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to climb Mount Everest in 1953, their achievement catapulted Nepal onto the global tourism map.

This vintage 1950s poster of Kathmandu is one of the first tourism advertisements from Nepal. It depicts a woman holding a door open for the viewer to reveal a procession walking in front of a Buddhist temple with snow topped mountains in the background, an eye painted on the door representing Buddha's all seeing wisdom.