KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 18
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has started preparations to resume remaining tourist activities in the country.
As the Cabinet has decided to allow operations of cable cars, jungle safaris and museums, MoCTCA has begun preparations to open other tourist activities too.
Prior to this, the government had only allowed resumption of trekking and mountaineering activities.
The ministry had also issued a notice on November 13 requesting all the tourism service providers to resume their activities following the health safety measures set by the Ministry of Health and Population.
However, the ministry has stated that the local governments will have the final say on whether or not to allow tourist activities in their respective areas.
According to Rajan Poudel, joint spokesperson for MoCT- CA, even though the Cabinet has allowed resumption of all tourist activities, the ministry has requested local governments to monitor and allow the activities to resume looking at the risk of spread of COVID-19 infection.
“Despite the decision of the Cabinet, considering the COV- ID-19 risks, the local governments will be authorised to give permission to resume the activities,” he said.
Meanwhile, different bodies working under the ministry will monitor whether the activities are being conducted following the health safety measures.
The Cabinet had decided on November 9 to allow resumption of tourist activities.
Amid this, 2,009 foreigners entered the country between October 17 and November 15.
According to Department of immigration, the highest number of 455 tourists from the United States arrived in Nepal in last one month, while 326 — the second highest — arrived from United Kingdom.
Likewise, 161 tourists arrived from China, while 125 tourists from India entered Nepal in the last one month.
Meanwhile, only 1,855 foreigners had arrived in first three months of current fiscal.
On November 14, Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai had said Nepal’s tourism sector is gaining momentum. He made this remarks after meeting with a team led by Prince Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Thani of Qatar, who returned to Kathmandu after a successful ascent of Amadablam Himal.
The tourism minister had said that the visit of high-ranking officials from different countries to Nepal is a sign that the tourism sector is slowly moving forward at its own pace despite the risks of COV- ID-19 contagion.
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