Nepal’s tourism industry is hopeful of revival as it throws doors open to fully vaccinated foreigners. Passengers entering Nepal by air or land will have to submit a certificate of full vaccination. Nepal became the latest among a few nations to ease the protocols.
The cabinet meeting held last week took the decision and it has been circulated to all concerned ministries and other stakeholders.
Besides this, there is no other Covid-related restriction regarding travel in effect as of now.
The coronavirus pandemic is a tough blow for the Nepali economy, which seemed on the cusp of a modest revival after the 2015 earthquake and subsequent Indian blockade.
Service industries like tourism and hotels are being hit especially hard. Tourism was expected to drive Nepal’s economic growth and contribute greatly to the high growth target of 8.5 percent that the government had set for last year, but this industry had a little financial cushion. The contribution of the tourism sector to Nepal’s economy stood at 7.9 percent in 2018, according to the report prepared by the World Travel and Tourism Council, which represents the private tourism industry and counts more than 200 company members.
Nepal’s mountaineering season has already started and this announcement by the government is a great relief. In previous years, there were high demands for climbing Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, this year, the announcement by the government is expected to bring some relief.
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