There is an immediate need of the tourism activities in Nepal as the industry has been standstill for months now and is heading straight into a deep sleep. Although international flights has been resumed for a couple of weeks now, it has not contributed a lot in the tourism sector of Nepal. The resumption of them regular flights has not been able to create much of a difference as tourists are still not permitted to travel to Nepal, only the Nepali nationals are permitted to fly as of now. On the other hand, domestic flights are still suspended and the operation of the flights are set to rese from September 17. As per the recent cabinet meeting, hotels and restaurants are permitted to open and should follow all the health and safety guidelines mentioned by the government of Nepal. However, traveling from one district to another is still strict though the lockdown is set loose which makes the resumption of tourism still uncertain in Nepal.
The Ministry and Department of tourism and the concerned authorities, everyone has been trying to find out an optimal solution to restart tourism in Nepal. There might have been several plans and ideas for the resumption of tourism or certain tourism related activities but none of them has came into effect. Government has decided to increase the number of international flights in coming days and ideas has been presented regarding the permission for foreigners to travel to Nepal but there is a very slight chance that it might come into effect. So generating the international tourists at this time looks very tough for Nepal which makes domestic tourism a top most priority as of now to actually be a lifeline for the tourism industry of Nepal.
Not only the international tourists but Nepal has also seen a huge growth in the domestic tourism of the nation. In fact, the domestic tourists exceeds the internationals tourists in some places which makes it an actual potential be a helping hand for the tourism sector of Nepal. From the youths to the grown ups, we have seen a huge growth of traveling in recent years. The youths of the nation are more motivated to travel in different parts of the nation compared to the others and the popular and most favourite activities among the youths is the adventure. From trekking and hiking to different adventure sports like rafting bungee jumping, paragliding, zip-line and many more. These activities are one of the major attractions for the youths of Nepal as we can see a huge number of nation’s youth involved in these activities every year. You can always find different groups of Nepalese traveling to different parts of the country for trekking, hiking, rock climbing, cycling and other different activities. Other than that, city tours are moderately popular in the domestic tourism sector. One of the most popular city that many Nepalese travel for leisure and other purposes is Pokhara while the eastern part of Nepal has also gained quite an impression in the domestic tourism market. There are many people who regularly travels to Pokhara just to take a break and other leisure purposes, while on the other hand many travel to different religious and cultural places as a part of pilgrimage tourism.
From adventure tourism to the pilgrimage tourism, there is a huge potential of domestic tourism in Nepal and if we look closely, the domestic sector has also contributed a lot in the economy of the tourism industry of Nepal and there is no doubt about it. We have seen hundreds and thousands lined up to travel for Mustang, we have seen the bungee and rafting places filled with domestic tourists, we can find hundreds of them in the mountains for different activities every year. So yes, domestic tourism can no doubt be a helping hand for the tourism industry of Nepal as of now. The only thing that is an obstacle for the domestic tourism to resume is Lockdown and safety. Until and unless lockdown ends and the tourist destinations are declared safe, domestic tourism might not be as successful as planned.
There has been ideas regarding the resumption of domestic tourism to generate tourism activities in Nepal as of now but with the lockdown still on hand domestic tourism might not make it through. However, government and the concerned authorities seems to be working on a plan to make it happen. My take on this is, if the government of Nepal can make tourist destinations safe and declare it as a safe zone then, we might be able to attract international tourists along with the domestic tourists. There is a need of tourism in Nepal because it is one of the major economic source of the nation and if not quick the future of tourism in Nepal might see a huge loss than now. So, the tourism activities can start slow and might restrict several things as of now but the tourism in Nepal should resume as soon as possible and the plans should come to an immediate effect with an optimal solution. Even though Nepal is ready for tourism and welcome the international guests, tourists might not be at this time due to the safety concerns, so domestic tourism might be the best choice for Nepal to head on as of now.
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