Nepal appeals foreign govts to lift travel advisory

Speaking at a programme here on Wednesday Tourism Minister Kripasur Sherpa asked various countries to lift travel advisory for their nationals as it would discourage the visitors wishing to visit Nepal.

“There are many beautiful places and tourists attractions in Nepal which are safe even as the country suffered a major natural disaster in April and May,” he said.

So far, USA, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand have already lifted travel advisory for their nationals, according to Suman Pandey, president of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter. He said that Nepal will witness 75-80 per cent decline in the inflow of international visitors this year due to the devastating earthquake.

The two earthquakes in April and May were country’s worst temblors in decades.

Last year 795,000 foreign tourists visited Nepal, of them 35 per cent came from India and China, according to Sharad Pradhan, spokesperson of the Nepal Tourism Board.

To woo international visitors, the Nepal government declared open Nepal’s heritage sites enlisted by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, on June 15 nearly one and a half month after the major earthquake hit the country killing nearly 9,000 people. Tourism is the major foreign exchange earning business for Nepal.

PATA Nepal Chapter has planned to organise a Bloggers’ conference in Kathmandu towards September end as part of its tourism recovery campaign. Besides, Himalayan Travel Mart 2016 is being organised on May 29 next year coinciding with the Everest Day. Familiarisation Trips to international tour operators and media persons is also on the card with a view to promoting tourism.

Meanwhile, The North America unit of BAPS Charities today said it has donated $135,000 for Nepal earthquake victims. These contributions for Nepal earthquake victims have been made through various organisations - Direct Relief, One Heart World-Wide, the Nepali Embassy, UNICEF, and the United Nations’ World Food Programme USA (WFP).