Mukul Subedi

We are in the midst of a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. People have been again panicked by the new surge of virus. The government has imposed a 15-day prohibitory order in the Kathmandu Valley to break the chain of virus. Similarly, places which have become hotspots of the virus, strong restrictive measures have been enforced to save the lives of people.
Like many other sectors, the hospitality industry is affected most by the pandemic. It was facing many challenges related to human resources, marketing and technology adaptation prior to the pandemic. It primarily requires experienced, smart, skilled and efficient employees to well serve the guests and manage the hotels in addition to the proper facilities and standards. If room maids/boys are inexperienced, the hygiene and standard of room will go down. This is a reason why big hotels recruit the educated and trained staff to make sure that they are able to boost their image and business as well.
However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, employees of the hospitality industry have to lose their job. They felt their profession is precarious in the face of lockdown and prohibitory order enforced to contain the killer disease. Following travel bans, border closures and quarantine measures, hotels have failed to receive tourists. Like many other nations, Nepal is also suffering huge economic losses in the hospitality sector. A large number of employees have been laid off. Some hotels have shut down and they remain closed until the situation improves.
Even if their business has gone down, the hoteliers have to pay the salary, rent of buildings and electricity bills. Many have taken hefty loans to operate their business and now they have to pay interest without making any income. This has led them to the brink of collapse. Some months ago, Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) had presented a 14-point memorandum to the government, demanding that it support them in distributing salaries and allowances to the hotel employees.
They have admitted that it took four to five years for the hospitality industry to bounce back to the pre-pandemic level. The hoteliers have urged the government to implement holiday tourism, exempt tax, facilitate environmental studies and implement the report of a high-level committee and task force constituted to minimise the negative impacts of the pandemic.
In the memorandum, they have also offered suggestions to breathe life into the crippled hotel industry. Some of them include classification of tourism products, standards of hotels and resorts in line with international practice, facilitation in registration and approval of hotels, training of staffers and promotion of border tourism, among others.
It is natural for the hotel entrepreneurs to look to the government to revive the sector. But the government appears to be not in a position to financially fulfil the demands of HAN because it itself is fighting the pandemic with scanty resources. In view of the negative economic growth, the state is unlikely to provide economic relief as anticipated by the hotel sector.
In my view, all should focus on eradicating the pandemic as early as possible. It is the duty of one and all to abide by the key health protocols to avoid the virus. Once we return to normal, every economic sector, including the hospitality industry, will witness the revival.