The Nepalese government has been working to draft a 10-year National Tourism Master Plan, supposedly the country's tourism roadmap that starts by the beginning of 2014, officials at Nepals Tourism Ministry said Sunday.

The master plan (2014- 2024) mainly comprises of three strategies, development, promotion and marketing. "The main objective of this master plan is to make tourism a backbone of Nepal's economy which has rich culture, nature and adventure among others," Mohan Krishna Sapkota, spokesperson of Tourism Ministry told Xinhua.

The master plan will also incorporate "vision 2020," which the government expects to receive 2 million foreign tourists each year by 2020. The vision also has an ambitious target to increase employment in tourism sector to 1 million by then.

Political instability, fragile state of peace and security and lack of infrastructure, among others, are considered major bottlenecks in harnessing the full potential of Nepal's tourism.

With the declining performance of agriculture and industrial sector, which were once considered major contributor to gross domestic product (GDP), the Nepal government has lately been mulling over the massive exploration of its tourism sector.

Sapkota said the master plan will incorporate several of government's objectives in regards to tourism development for the next 20 years and strategies to achieve them.

"The master plan will be a comprehensive document and an integrated policy paper as it will incorporate Tourism Policy 2065, Vision 2020, the country's three-year interim plan and related acts," he said.

Nepal received only 803,092 tourists in 2012 (598,258 via air and 204,834 via land) which is far below what the nation has to offer, tourism officials noted.

Among the tourists who visited Nepal last year, most of them were from India (165,139) and China (71,380), both Nepal's close neighbors, meaning there is still great potential among tourists from other countries.

Tourism currently accounts for only 3 percent of the country's GDP.

Ministry officials said the master plan will increase the scope and space of tourism in Nepal, such as opening more wild and virgin areas to tourists.

Stakeholders said that the country has been lagging behind to harness its tourism potential mainly due to the government's indifference to the sector.

United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), a pioneer international organization working for tourism under the banner of UN, has recently prepared the first draft of the master plan and the ministry will hold public debate and discuss with its all stakeholders before giving it a final shape, sources at the ministry told Xinhua.

The history of Nepal's tourism development dates back to 1951 when the country was opened to foreign visitors after the Rana regime was toppled. In 1953, Nepal gained fame as a mountaineering destination when Tenzing Sherpa and Edmund Hillary climbed Mt. Qomolangma, known as Everest in the West, the highest peak on the planet.