Nepal Gains Importance for Attracting Tourists After Quake

After the massive earthquake of 2015, Nepal Government and private sector is not keeping any stone unturned to restore their deteriorating tourism sector. Last year witnessed 33 percent drop in the tourist flow and 22 percent slump in the revenue of the tourism industry.

2015 saw an inflow of 538,970 tourists which declined to 313, 512 in the initial six months of this year. Tourism officials are expecting that September onward tourist inflow will increase. However, hotel entrepreneurs have said that average occupancy rate in majority of the hotels in peak season could rise max to max 65 percent.

Pushpa Raj Acharya and Sujan Dhungana of The Himalayan Times talked with Shankar Prasad Adhikari, Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Amar Man Shakya, President of Hotel Association Nepal about reviving Nepal’s tourism sector and what needs to be done for gaining better prospects.