The government has appointed mountaineer Phunjo Jhangmu Lama and entrepreneur Binod Adhikari as the tourism goodwill ambassadors to Switzerland and Pennsylvania of the United States of America, respectively.

Lama and Adhikari have been named Nepal's tourism ambassadors following a decision made by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

"The ministry hopes that the goodwill ambassadors will work for promotion of the country's tourism abroad during their four-year tenure," the letter issued by MoCTCA read.

Phunjo, who set the world record for the fastest woman to scale Mt Everest from Nepal side in 2018, is also the first Nepali female helicopter long-line rescuer. Phunjo had already been awarded with the Tenzing-Hilary award by the government.

Born in Chhokangpaaro village of Tsum valley in Gorkha, Phunjo scaled Mt Everest, Mt Manaslu, Mt Cho Oyu and other peaks including Amdablam, Lobuche and Denali. She had scaled Mt Everest in 39 hours 6 minutes in 2018. She has also supported rural communities for their livelihood.

Adhikari, a tourism entrepreneur, has been active in promoting Nepal in the USA. Adhikari is also the director of an award-winning Himalayan documentary 'The Everest Man', which depicts the adventure of the legendary mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa.