Nepal’s Tourism Ministry has said that it would let all tourism related activities including mountain climbing during autumn. The Nepal government has already announced that it will resume all domestic and international flights from August 17.
With the latest announcement, the tourism fraternity believes that the industry which incurred a loss of over 10 billion rupees a month during the COVID-induced nationwide lockdown would gradually return to a new normal, Himalayan Times said in a report.
“The ministry plans to resume all tourism related activities by following health and safety protocols from August 17,” the Ministry’s secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari said, adding that safety protocols are being finalised by holding consultations with stakeholders concerned.
According to the Cabinet decision, flights will be resumed in three phases. In the first phase, flights will be operated to the destinations that are less affected by COVID-19. During the initial period of flight resumption, airline companies will not be allowed to operate all their fleet. Permission to operate the aircraft will be given, based on the destination and the number of passengers, the Himalayan Times report said.
Iswari Poudel, vice-president of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal, said that trekking and expedition operators are ready to resume climbing activities following safety protocols in the autumn season. “Most of the agencies will run expeditions on Mt Manaslu and Mt Ama Dablam, among others, once the flight operation resumes,” said Poudel, whose company ‘Himalayan Guides’ runs expeditions on different mountains.
