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Published on : Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Although fears of a second or third wave of the pandemic remain, tens of thousands of Nepalis have started traveling to their preferred holiday spots.
For example, there is Dhampus, 25 kilometers northwest of Pokhara and gateway to one of the world’s most popular trekking trails in the Annapurna region.
With Nepal closed to foreign tourists, domestic pandemic restrictions have been eased. Hence, tens of thousands of people have started to travel, giving the country’s tourism industry a much-needed improvement.
Air travel within Nepal is gradually picking up for the first time since the virus first struck. Hotels, resorts and homestays too have started welcoming guests slowly.
Sudarshan Bartaula, the spokesperson for Yeti Airlines, said that they have sold over 220 tour packages for before and after Dashain. “This is encouraging sales. This shows people are desperate to travel,” he said.
The airline has, for the first time, launched a special package for various tourism destinations for reviving Nepal’s tourism industry and also for staying afloat in a sector hit hard by the pandemic.
On September 17, the Nepal government permitted domestic airlines to restart flights with 50 percent occupancy after six months of suspension.
For international travelers, only trekkers and mountaineers with fixed bookings and other documents have been allowed to enter Nepal from October 17, and so far, 11 foreign mountaineers have got the permission to climb Nepal’s mountains this season. For the rest of the foreign tourists, the Himalaya nation still remains off limits.
The months of September to November is Nepal’s peak tourist season for both domestic and international travelers as they visit nooks and crannies of the country, thereby providing rural economy with a much-needed boost. Almost one-third of the 1.2 million foreign visitors visit Nepal during the autumn season.
Nepal Tourism Board said that domestic travel happens during the autumn during the Dashain and Tihar festival holidays. But this year, the corona virus played spoilsport. The much-hyped Visit Nepal Year 2020, aiming to host 2 million foreign visitors, was a letdown.
Given the current scenario, domestic tourists have become a savior for a beleaguered industry.
“Our bookings indicate most are travelling to the Everest and Annapurna regions,” said Bartaula.
The relatively affordable packages—Rs.14,000 for 4 nights and five days Kathmandu-Namche Bazaar package and Rs.17,000 for 4 nights and 5 days package for Kathmandu-Pokhara-Ghandruk are the big draws, according to Bartaula.