Impact of Coronavirus on Nepal’s Tourism Industry

HB Kham

When the entire world is battling against the most deadly and invisible enemy –Coronavirus- Nepal is not an exception. The Coronavirus that spread from China has almost spread to every nooks and corners of the world. It does not distinguish between rich and poor country, civilized and uncivilized societies.

Nepal’s tourism industry actually contributes as much as 7.9% of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country which implies that how significant the tourism industry is to sustain Nepal’s economy.

Actually tourism industry is supposed to be one of the major backbones of Nepal that has hundreds of higher and highest peaks, passes, glaciers, naturally beautiful national parks and deepest rivers to allure the world visitors.

The trekking regions, mountain expeditions and flora and fauna here attract thousands of foreigners to come and relax here. However, the outbreak of Covid-19 totally collapsed the tourism industry in Nepal after all national and international flights were called off and hotels closed under the fear of spread of Coronavirus.

The loss and damage has been such that even government seems to be not in a position to revive it despite efforts made to allocate certain amount of budget to rejuvenate it.

The total loss suffered due to Coronavirus on Tourism industry in Nepal is so irreparable as is indicated by the suspension of the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign which was expected to bring in at least two million tourists.

Nepal in fact is one of the mainstream holiday hotspots in the world. Nepal is known for being one of the most renowned travel goals on the planet. With a large number of tourists visiting the area consistently, tourism in Nepal has taken off higher than ever. However, the travel industry has encountered a serious grim situation because of the negative impact of the Coronavirus.

The effect of the Covid-19 Coronavirus has obviously slumped the economy of Nepal to larger extent. Pandemics consistently immediately affect the business-like lodgings, aircraft, eateries and travel offices because of the worldwide travel limitations and lock down measures.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Nepal is gradually falling into the high risk zone with steady spike and dearth of PCR tests to prevent spreading spree of Covid-19.

Nepal government’s imposition of nationwide lock down to curb the spread of Covid-19 has also surpassed 100 days, yet the spike in Coronavirus cases continues to surge which has threatened many lives.

As many as 38 people have already succumbed to Coronavirus infection while more than 6,000 people are undergoing treatment in various hospitals of the country while Nepal has confirmed as many as 17061 cases of virus so far.

Despite the grim picture shown by Coronavirus pandemic there has been an optimistic trend seen as more than 10,000 people return home after their recovery from the deadly contagion and many more are expected to return home after getting healed from the epidemic.

The country is gradually returning to normalcy despite surge in virus cases as few of the public transports have started moving on the roads and shops remain open during the day time and government mulls over relaxing the model of lock down which can pave the way for tourism industry to resume its business in the upcoming new season.