Kathmandu, April 20 : Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is learnt to have been preparing several strategies to restore tourism industry adversely affected by the global pandemic of coronavirus. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai has said the Ministry is seeking all possible ways to uplift the tourism sector bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis.
Taking part in a video conference organised today by the Society of Economic Journalists Nepal ( SEJON), the Minister pledged to identify and assess the real impacts of the crisis on the country’s tourism business and come up with new plans and measures to reinvigorate it.
A three-member team comprising the Ministry’s joint-secretary Ghanashyam Upadhya, Nepal Tourism Board’s chief executive officer Dr Dhananjay Regmi and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal’s executive director Rajan Pokhrel is working to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on the tourism sector. The model of relief packages will be determined being based on the findings of the study, according to the Minister.
Stating that talks were ongoing with the Ministry of Finances and National Planning Commission to address the financial crisis induced due to the ongoing lockdown, the Minister said that the agendas raised now could be addressed in the next budget session. According to him, the government is doing homework to offer employment to the labourers in the tourism sector in other alternative areas.
He added that such labourers could be deployed for cleaning of the mountains, trekking trials and construction of foot trails, among other activities. Similarly, former CEO of the Nepal Tourism Board Deepakraj Joshi spoke of the need to formulate a three-year master plan to reinvigorate the tourism sector hit by the COVID-19 fallout. He viewed, “The government should revitalize the tourism sector in collaboration with the private sector. The government should aim at saving the tourism sector in 2020 and revitalize it sector by 2021 and expanding the tourism activities by 2022.”
Calling for reforms at policy level for the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, he asserted that the budget of other ministries could be used to spend on the revitalization of the tourism sector. The former CEO also underlined the need for the government to devise a manual mechanism for ensuring safety and security in all sectors at this juncture of pandemic. Likewise, Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN)’s second Vice-President Prabin Pandey pointed out the need to use the social development fund set by the private sector to save enterprises. According to him, the government should prioritize promotion of the local tourism after the lockdown is lifted adding,” the chances of arrival of the foreign tourists would be lesser in the wake lockdown lift.
