Trekking and mountaineering companies are progressively stretching up to find business for 2020 with the ongoing development and the government’s decision to open up for tourist.First group of VVIP travellers, a team of 18 royal guard of Bahrain including the royal prince arrived in Nepal on 16th of September 2020. The team is looking forward to climb Mt Lobuche (6119m) in the Everest region and Mt. Manaslu (8163m) in the Gorkha region as a preparation trip for their Mt. Everest Expedition in 2021. Likely, a German couple, also a diplomat officials working in Nepal, have entered the Everest region to become the first International Visitors to trek in the Everest region ever since the first lockdown due to Covid-19 in March 2020.
The government of Nepal has decided to resume international travelers to visit Nepal from the 17th of October 2020, which earlier was banned due to the Covid-19 situation. Necessary preparations are being done by the government to ensure that the international guests can freely and fearlessly travel in Nepal in midst of the pandemic situation. The Ministry of Tourism has already allowed hotels and domestic airlines to begin operation from 17th of September with necessary safety measures in place. International diplomats and Nepalese citizen are already allowed to fly in and out of the country at the moment. The decision of the government to welcome international visitors is yet challenged by some management issues, which are being gradually resolved.
Although the government had decided to resume the domestic flights from 17th of September the airlines didn’t begin their operation unless 21st of September. At the beginning the government had announced that the airlines could operate with half the number of passengers than their regular capacity but all the airlines challenged the decision as it seemed impossible for the airlines to operate on same old price with only half the passengers and a lot of preventive measures to follow against corona. Thus, the joint meeting of the government officials and the airlines representative came to an agreement that the airlines could operate on their full capacity following the safety measures like using masks, hand sanitizers, gloves and face shields. So, now the domestic flights are on regular operation.
Similarly, the hotels and resorts have gradually begun their operation. Many of them are deciding based on their bookings whether to resume their service or not. Since most of the staffs are on unpaid leave, the hotels and resorts don’t want to resume without being sure they have enough business to begin operation.
The local business operators associated to tourism are all desperately looking forward to resume business and welcomes the decision by the government of Nepal to resume international travelers to visit Nepal. At the mean time they also realize the safety measures and other responsibilities that comes along during the challenging situation, which they must fulfill to attract more foreigners to travel in Nepal.