The tourism industry of Nepal is fuelled up after the government decided to open trekking and mountaineering activities from 17October 2020. It has been more than 6 months that the tourism industry of Nepal is halted to run any activities due to rise in Covid-19 cases. The cabinet meeting which was held last week has finally decided to resume tourism in Nepal with just trekking and mountaineering activities from mid- October. The cabinet meeting has also mentioned that trekking and mountaineering will be open for both domestic and international tourists which has hinted that Nepal will soon lift the ongoing travel ban for foreign nationals as they are not permitted to travel to Nepal for tourism. However, several foreigners have travelled to Nepal for special purposes throughout the lockdown period. Two of the groups has already been permitted for the expedition out of which one of them have already left for the trip and this could be the major reason that the decision to resume trekking in Nepal might actually stay on.
With the decision to resume trekking services in Nepal for international tourists as well, Nepal is slowly on the way to resume tourism inside the nation. The resumption of trekking will most probably trigger other tourist activities as well. Trekking on the high mountains, far from the crowd might be one of the safest tourist activities but there could be other adventures that Nepal could plan for. One of them is the adventure sports in water like rafting, kayaking and more.
Is water adventure sports resuming soon in Nepal ?
Nepal Association of Rating Agencies (NARA) has recently written a letter to the Tourism Ministry of Nepal (MoCTCA) to resume the water sports activities in Nepal. (Source: Tourism Mail). They have urged the government to restart the water adventures sports like rafting and kayaking as they have been shut down for months now. They have seen huge losses as around 10000 people are involved in this sector with over 3 billion of investment and if not quick enough to resume the services they will face more losses. So they have written a letter to the ministry for the permission to operate the water adventure activities as soon as possible.
Now all we need to know that, if it is really safe to resume the water sports in Nepal with the 1000+ daily new cases of Covid-19 on their hand. First of, there will be involvement of several people while carrying out these activities. While kayaking just needs a single person, rafting needs a group of people to perform the activity which is why it is so much fun. The NRNA has mentioned that they will follow all the safety guidelines made by the government while carrying out these activities. If all the safety and health protocols are properly maintained and with minimal physical contact, it could be possible to resume these activities safely. So there is a chance that the water adventure sports might actually restart following the trekking and mountaineering activities in Nepal.
The letter has already been submitted to the Tourism Ministry of Nepal by NARA and there is a chance for the approval as the government has already planned to open the Nepal for tourism by deciding to resume trekking and mountaineering activities. Adventure sports has always been one of the favourite activities of tourists in Nepal if we look at the stats and rafting and kayaking tops the least when it comes to water sports. Now with travel ban for foreign nationals likely to be lifted soon and Immigration department of Nepal resuming all its services, we can definitely expect the arrival of tourists if the water sports is permitted to resume by the government.
Moving on, Nepal has some of the thrilling and chilling fast flowing rivers that are perfect for rafting and kayaking. In fact, some the rivers are world class for white water rafting which makes Nepal one of the best destination for rafting. The rivers Nepal are rated from low grade to high with different classes with the form of rapids and currents these rivers generate. From a family rafting to the thrilling trip that you will make your adrenaline rush, Nepal has it all when it comes to rafting. As far as kayaking is concerned, it is a solo adventure with whole new experience and even more thrill. These water sports activities has not only drawn traffic from the international tourists but there is a huge involvement of domestic tourists as well.
However, the government is yet to take decision regarding the resumption of the water sports activities in Nepal.
0 Comments