Nepal Declared to be ‘Coronavirus Free Zone’

Kathmandu: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai in a meeting with related government agencies Tuesday declared that Nepal is free from coronavirus.

Minister Bhattarai also called upon all concerned government as well as private agencies to expedite efforts to accelerate and promote the country’s tourism sector.

Minister Bhattarai in a meeting with the concerned government agencies also directed to them to develop audio-visual products in English, Hindi, Chinese, and Nepali, highlighting Nepal as a ‘coronavirus-free zone’ within three days and promote the message in the international market through publicity materials.

He also expressed solidarity with melancholy faced by Chinese people and said that publicity materials will soon be prepared to show that Nepal is ready to give a warm welcome to Chinese tourists and such publicity material will be disseminated through various Chinese media outlets.

Minister also directed the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal to encourage international airlines to fly to Nepal. Likewise, he also urged Nepal Airlines Corporation to focus on major tourism markets of Nepal and make flights to new tourist destinations.

As Nepal observes Visit Nepal 2020 intending to bring in two million tourists, yet tourist arrival has plummeted by 33% in January 2020.

The inflow of tourists to Nepal was 91,793 in January 2019, while the arrival of tourists to Nepal in January 2020 this year has been limited to 67,020 only.