Tourism is one of the major economic backbone Nepal and now the industry is suffering like never before. Airlines, Travel agents, Hotels everything is shut down and that has been months. The is the second time that the Government has imposed lockdown in Nepal and this time it is more strict because the decision to end the first imposed lockdown by the government without any proper plan has cost a lot for the people of Nepal. Soon after the end of the first lockdown, there was. Sudden rise in the number of Covid-19 cases and even to the capital which has seen just a few number of cases became one of the most risky zones. This is the very reason government was forced to impose lockdown or more like a strict shut down in different places of Nepal. There are already thousands of Covid-19 cases in Kathmandu valley and the numbers are just increasing day by day. Government has extended lockdown till 2 September and the decision for the end or extension of lockdown has not yet been decided by the government. However looking at the present situation, there is minimal chance for the end of the ongoing lockdown in Nepal.
Many cities of Nepal are currently under total lockdown and the movement from one district to another is strictly prohibited. So it is very hard to tell about the resumption of tourism anytime soon in Nepal. Regular flights will be resuming from the 1st of September. Many International airlines are all set and ready to fly to Nepal and has already submitted letter to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. The resumption of the air travel is set to be for both international airlines in Nepal but the current situation does not favour the resumption of domestic travel as different cities are under lockdown. So, though international flights will resume in Nepal, domestic flights are not sure. Well, there is a high chance of the resumption of domestic flights as well. Even though, they are kept on hold for now, it might not take long for government to resume domestic flights.
Why the resumption of International flights will not resume tourism in Nepal anytime soon?
You might have already got this answer from my previous articles and the above reasons are already enough to know the answer. The international flights which are set to resume from the start of September will only fly Nepali citizens who are stranded in different parts of the world. So the initial phase after the resumption of the international flights will not take tourists to Nepal as per the decision made by the government. There are still many Nepalese stuck in different countries who have urged Government of Nepal to take them back to their homes. Along with the regular flights, the repatriation flights are also set to be operated to the specific countries. So there seems to be no way for tourist to travel Nepal anytime soon. The border area is completely sealed as well, so the Indian tourists cannot travel via road. However, the majority of Indian tourist travel via air.
Moving on, Travel agents and hotels have been suffering like hell during the lockdown. A handful of them have already been shut down and we all know why. Several staffs from the industry are already jobless. However, with the resumption of international flights will create a slight opening for these sectors. Well, couple of them were running from the past few months. Travel agents for booking of the chartered flights and hotels for quarantine. Yes, several hotels in Kathmandu has turned into quarantine facility as of now. Government of Nepal has made the rule that anyone traveling to Nepal through the chartered flights have to stay in a mandatory 7 day hotel quarantine. So several hotels are operated for quarantine facility. The Nepalese who will be arriving to Nepal after the resumption of airlines will have to do the same. Other than that hotels and travel agents are still shut down. Furthermore, the Immigration Department of Nepal has still not mentioned anything about the visa related services which were suspended till the next notice. Tourist who are still in Nepal do not have to worry about their visas as there will be no extra charges until the given time as mentioned in the notice issued by the Department of Immigration, Nepal.
Meanwhile, this is the trekking season of Nepal. Trekking alone is the main reason for many of the tourist to travel to Nepal. Maybe one third of them but now it looks like the trekking season this year will be a bummer. Previously, Government has aimed to resume tourism in Nepal along with the resumption of international flights but now with the continuous increase in the cases of Covid-19 and several cities of Nepal under lockdown, it seems there is still time for the tourism to resume in Nepal.
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