Want to help Nepal?
Want to help Nepal?
Want to help Nepal? Visit and spend money. Tour operators and travel agents worldwide should encourage clients to select Nepal as a travel destination of choice. Nepal's hospitality is up and running and can be enjoyed for a bargain.
General life in Kathmandu is slowly coming back to normal. Schools were reopened as of May 31. It shows the confidence and resilience in getting back to regular life in the valley.
After a month of dreadful earthquake, tourism has been one of the hardest hit industries in the country. However, various stakeholders are working relentlessly for its recovery and to regain the confidence of the target market.
As per the latest update by the Nepal Archeology Department, it is planning to officially reopen some of the UNESCO Heritage sites in the valley for visitors starting from the June 15, 2015. However, Kathmandu Durbar square and ChanguNarayan will take a little longer to welcome the visitors.
Similarly, the most of tourist category hotels in Kathmandu valley are back to operation. The hotel association of Nepal is carrying out structural assessment of the hotels and issuing GREEN or RED stickers.
A few hotels which got RED are working to on restoring properties to meet the safety standards.
Talking to eTN, Ms. Janet Fitzner, General Manager of Hotel Radisson in Kathmandu, highlighted the safety assessment and preparedness practices done by her hotel.
She is skeptical about the impact by negative travel advisories issued against Nepal and hopes that it will be relaxed soon as life is coming back to normal in the valley.
She herself feels safe and looks forward to welcoming leisure tourists and trekking groups in numbers soon.
Fortunately, other major tourist destinations - Pokhara, Chitwan, Bandipur and Lumbini - were unaffected by the earthquake; the hotels and places of interest are very much open there. However, the occupancy level is significantly low, enabling the visitors to enjoy super personalized services.
The government is coordinating an assessment of trekking routes (Everest region and Annapurna region). However, the recent reports from the trekkers returning back from these regions clearly show that trekking in the Annapurna and Everest regions are safe.
Mr. Marc Kessler from Germany was trekking in Annapurna on April 25 when the earthquake struck. But he chose to continue with his dream adventure. After the successful completion of his trek, he explored places like Pokhara, Lumbini and Chitwan.
eTN met him in Boudhanath on May 31, and he was happy over not cutting his trip short.
He had all praise for Nepal and the Nepalese hospitality industry which did not turn him down even in such hard times.
Guess what he was already planning? He wants to return back to Nepal in the near future!
He confidently encourages people to travel to Nepal as he finds no reason to cancel if one is planning a trip post monsoon.
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