VNY formally deferred and its secretariat to be dissolved since April 14

Kathmandu: Nepal government has finally decided to put off the Visit Nepal Year 2020 (VNY2020) campaign after the deadly Coronavirus surged up as a global epidemic.

The government’s high-level meeting held on March 22 formally decided to put off the VNY following the global COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

With the postponement of VNY 2020 the secretariat office situated at Keshar Mahal will be dissolved with effect from April 14 according to Kedar Bahadur Adhikari- secretary at the Minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation. Suraj Vaidya is the national coordinator of the VNY.

“VNY 2020 has been formally put off and no other activities are planned for this year. Discussions may crop up in the upcoming fiscal year budget planning,” said Adhikari.

Nepal government had aimed at bringing at least 2 million tourists during the VNY2020 and a Megha inaugural function was held on January 1, 2020, at Dashrath Rangshala stadium to mark the occasion which was officially inaugurated by President Bidya Devi Bhandari.

Earlier, all promotional activities related to VNY were postponed due to the rapid spread of global Coronavirus havoc.

Currently, Nepal has 5 Coronavirus positive cases of which one person has already returned home after recuperating from the epidemic. The government had clamped total lockdown in the country to curb the effect of the deadly virus since March 24.

The government has also suspended all domestic and international flights for a week since April 14. The deadly COVID-19 has had an adverse effect on the global economy including Nepal according to tourism entrepreneurs.

According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), more than 1.1 million tourists had visited Nepal in 2019. In 2018 also the number of tourists visiting Nepal was recorded above 1.1 million and in 2017 the tourists’ number was nearly 1 million.

Most of the countries in the world today are passing through the nationwide lockdown or social distancing to battle against the sinister global epidemic. Nepal government has also imposed lockdown until April 7.

The government had set aside 6.5 million rupees for the VNY2020. The VNY was observed in 2011 and 1998 too.