March 9: Tourist arrival in Nepal has been improving with the decline in Covid-19 cases. The number of tourists visiting Nepal in January and February of 2022 has more than doubled compared to the corresponding period of 2021. According to the Nepal Tourism Board, 36,741 tourists have visited Nepal in the first two months of 2022, compared to 18,020 tourists in the same period last year.

Altogether 19,766 tourists visited Nepal in February. This is more than double the figure of 2021. In February last year, 9,146 tourists had visited Nepal. Similarly, 16,975 tourists visited Nepal in January. In the same month last year, 8,874 tourists had arrived in Nepal.

As the Covid-19 cases continue to decline, the tourism sector is returning to normalcy. Dhananjay Regmi, CEO of NTB, said that the number of tourists has been increasing in recent months. 

He said that the country needs to focus on tourism promotion programs targeting Indian tourissts and border areas rather than Europe and USA to increase the number of tourist.

Regmi said that the  board is preparing to run the 'Tourism Mart' by inviting journalists, businessmen and others from different cities of India. Accordingly, programs will be organized on March 10, 11, and 12 in Nepalgunj and on March 25, 26, and 27 in Dharan. According to the board, such programs will be held in Dhangadhi in April and Bhairahawa in May to promote tourism in the areas that share border with India.

"We are especially targeting major Indian cities within 200 km of the Nepal-India border," said Regmi. 

He said that Nepal's tourism would also be promoted in China through digital media. Tourism promotion and marketing would be done in physical form in other countries, he said.

Binayak Shah, Senior Vice President of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), said that the global tourism market would be competitive in the face of the declining Covid-19 cases. "Tourists still have to deal with PCR reports and quarantine when they come to Nepal," Shah said. "Unless there is a policy reform, tourist arrivals will be affected,” he added"

Stating that the entrepreneurs are creating new products and strategies in their way, he said that not only the entrepreneurs but also the government should formally invite tourists.

Stating that Nepal is still in the 'red zone', Shah said, "The government should take initiative to remove it. It is necessary to formulate a clear line of action through coordination between the government and the business community." He stressed the need to bring a big program to help attract more tourists as they are interested in visiting Nepal and the number of bookings is also increasing. According to the board, 150,962 tourists had visited Nepal from different countries in 2021.