Nepal being a tourism landmark economy has been seriously affected by the global pandemic and tens of thousands of jobs directly or indirectly associated with the tourism and hospitality sector has been affected.

• Tourism is one of the world’s major economic sectors. It is the third-largest export category (after fuels and chemicals) and in 2019 accounted for 7% of global trade.
• Only 230,085 foreign tourists visited Nepal last year and majority were the arrivals prior to the March 2020 (First Lockdown imposition).
• Arrival of number of Tourist in the year 2021 is also not showing significant positive signal to the economy as only around 9000 tourist have visited during the month of January and February respectively.
• For Nepal’s economy, it represent over 5% of their GDP (direct and indirect channels).
• Tourism generally supports one in 10 jobs and provides livelihoods for millions of Nepalese.

Tourism is one of the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, impacting economies, livelihoods, public services and opportunities on all continents. All parts of its vast value-chain have been affected. The tourism and hospitality sectors have surely been among the biggest casualties of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Criteria for managing the movement of tourists, 2077” introduced by the “Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation” has prescribed various working modalities with respect to arrival of tourists and their tour in Nepal by repealing all the previous guidelines issued by the GON. With restrictions set to ease this spring and a boom in staycations anticipated, it seems as though there is some light at the end of what has been a very long tunnel.

Some of the highlights are presented below.

• Tourists entering Nepal have to submit a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test report from within 72 hours prior to departure from the country of origin or the vaccinated tourist presenting all the documents that they have taken full doze against the COVID 19.
• Upon arrival in Nepal, conduct another PCR test at their own cost and stay at the isolation in the hotel until the report is out. This takes just a few hours in Kathmandu and costs under USD 25. If the report is positive, they should, as per the rules, remain for further isolation in the hotel at their own costs and with a negative PCR result they can continue on their tour.
• It has been made mandatory that the travel, trekking or tour agencies handling the tourists should buy an insurance coverage of Rs100,000 for tour guide with the visitors.
• The government has resumed the on-arrival visa for tourists after a year. Foreign tourists should apply for the visa at the Nepali embassies and diplomatic mission in their respective countries.
• However, for the foreigners, if they don’t have Nepali missions and embassies in their countries and are facing difficulties to obtain visas, they are allowed to apply for on-arrival visas at Kathmandu Tribhuvan international Airport. However, On-arrival visas are not granted for tourists coming overland.
• According to the new rules, tourists seeking on-arrival visas should submit at least four documents at the airlines check-in counters, before boarding the flight to Nepal: PCR negative report taken 72 hours prior to their departure, documents proving that they are vaccinated with full dose; a copy of a recommendation letter issued by the Nepal Tourism Board and Department of Tourism; proof of hotel booking in Nepal; and travel insurance covering emergency search and rescue and treatment throughout their travel in Nepal.
• For the Indian Tourists, they should follow the arrangement as per the Nepal-India Travel Bubble Agreement in case they are travelling by air and for the land route they should submit PCR negative reports and documents proving that they have been vaccinated at the border points.

Sectors directly affected by Tourism and Hospitality

• Airlines
• Casino Industry
• Hotels, Motels and lodges
• Rental Car Industry
• Restaurant Industry
• Trekking and tour packaging sectors
• Small shop operators at the tourist areas.

Way forward

Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation should focus on:

Promoting the internal tourism by providing various initiatives and package. Monetary policy 2077-78 has also provided various relief and incentives to the tourism industry.

Some of the highlights of monetary policy with respect to tourism industry are provided below.

a) A provision of a fund worth Rs50 billion is created through which badly affected sectors like tourism and micro, small and medium enterprises get loans at a 5% interest rate for reviving the enterprises and paying staff salary.

b) Development Banks should disburse at least 20% of the total loan investment and Finance Companies have to distribute at least 15% of the loan to the specified sectors including agriculture, micro and SME’S, energy and tourism by Ashar end, 2081 BS.

c) The monetary policy has announced increasing the grace period for loan repayments schedule. During the grace period, the borrowers need not start to repay the loans. For the hotels accommodative of tourists, the arrangement will be made to extend the grace period by two years for one time.

Like Nepal, most of the other countries has also gradually lifted travel restrictions and tourism slowly restarts in many parts of the world, health must continue to be a priority and coordinated heath protocols that protect workers, communities and travelers, while supporting companies and workers, must be firmly in place.

Advance innovation and digital transformation of tourism, including promotion of innovation and investment in digital skills, particularly for workers temporarily without jobs and for job seekers.

Thus, the crisis should be taken as an opportunity to rethink how tourism interacts with our societies, other economic sectors and our natural resources and ecosystems; to measure and manage it better; to ensure a fair distribution of its benefits and to advance the transition towards a digital tourism and resilient tourism economy.

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