Govt urged to address nine-point demand to revive tourism amid pandemic

Various organisations affiliated with the tourism industry severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have issued a joint statement urging the government to address their demands for the revival of the industry.

The statement issued on Tuesday lamented that although some businesses closed down forever due to the COVID-19 pandemic no necessary steps have been taken by the government yet for the revival of the tourism industry.

The organisations working in the tourism field have drawn the attention of the government to immediately address their demands for the revival of the tourism sector in the country.

The government has been urged to implement the policies and programs related to tourism announced in the budget of the Fiscal Year 2078/79 as soon as possible.

Likewise, the government has also been asked to provide the anti-COVID-19 vaccines within a month to the tourism service providers, stakeholders and related workers who have been working at the forefront in the tourism sector.

The organisations working in the tourism industry have further demanded the government to arrange PCR tests at the entry points including Tribhuvan International Airport and make the hotel quarantine mandatory only for the tourists who test positive for COVID-19.

Similarly, the statement issued by the organisations has urged the government to enable online visa services and implement the “Visa-on-Arrival” system to motivate travellers to visit Nepal.

Moreover, the nationwide training and monitoring mechanism should be set up to make the implementation of health security protocol effective. It has also demanded the inclusion of a member of the main umbrella organisations in the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC).

It has been asked to implement the embossed number plate system in such a way that the tourist vehicles should be able to travel easily to different parts of the country without any hindrance.

The government has been urged to make available the loan of up to Rs 2.5 million for the companies pursuing in the tourism field at zero per cent interest rate without any collateral and maintaining the maximum term of 5 years.

In case of disruption of tourist vehicles due to COVID-19, the vehicle tax will have to be fully waived. The fines for the fiscal year 2076/77 and 2077/78 should be fully waived, the statement demanded the government. Similarly, loans should be provided at the rate of three per cent per annum for the tourism transport entrepreneurs while the taxes and fines on vehicle inspection and pollution testing should be deducted cent per cent for one year. The period of disruption of the transport service should be calculated as zero time and the sum insured of the vehicle should be deducted for at least one year, the organisations have demanded.