Nepal Tourism Board (NTB)was recently in India to attend South Asia biggest travel expo SATTE and engage with the travel industry partners in India as part of its effort to restart tourism in the country. The NTO, led by its CEO, Dr. Dhananjay Regmi, also interacted with the travel industry media a day prior to the start of SATTE to highlight its diverse tourism attractions, its renewed destinations marketing priorities, new products and preparedness in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic.
Nepal has undertaken several steps to bring back international travellers. In October last year, Nepal announced that foreign tourists, including trekkers, with a Covid-negative report, were not required to quarantine themselves anymore. It has also initiated programme to carry out instant antigen Covid-19 tests for arriving foreign tourists at Tribhuvan International Airport in capital Kathmandu.
According to Regmi, “The previous year had disrupted the business of travel and tourism the world over. Nepal, too, suffered as other nations did, but the country’s administration was quick to respond to the pandemic by ordering a nationwide lockdown and preparing for the months to follow by procuring essential medical supplies and equipment, upgrading the existing health infrastructure, training medical personnel and spreading awareness about the virus and precautions that needed to be taken among the general public.”
Furthermore, the NTB CEO added, “While we were forced to cancel the Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign amidst the havoc, we are now gearing up to welcome international tourists. We have conducted webinars in the past to engage our travel trade partners in India, and keep them updated on Nepal’s constant and consistent effort in resuming tourism. We hope that together, we successfully fight the pandemic and work towards the betterment of our respective tourism sectors.”
Nepal already has an air bubble arrangement with India that allows both Nepal Airlines and Air India to operate between Kathmandu and New Delhi. Nepal has also commenced its vaccination drive against Covid-19 starting late January.
