By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Sept. 8: Stakeholders have said that it will take four to five years for the revival of the tourism industry affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
They said that the tourism industry would not experience any improvement unless there was a favourable environment for tourist arrivals after the pandemic.
Stakeholders expressed this view while speaking at a video conference organised by the Society of Economic Journalists’ Nepal (SEJON) on Monday.
Former chief executive officer of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) Prachanda Man Shrestha said that this was the time to spread the information regarding the efforts of the government and the private sector to the tourist generating countries as it was difficult to bring the tourists.
The trend of tourism would change in future, he said, adding that the decade of tourist arrivals in bulk had ended.
“The era of mass tourism has gone. In coming days, travelers will choose only the area of special interest,” Shrestha said. Tourists can be attracted if innovations are made in the tourism sector, he said.
Uncertainty that hovers in the sector from the pandemic has created a fear among the tourism entrepreneurs and it needs to be managed, he said.
He said that the tourism sector should be clear about what it can offer to the tourists, he said.
He said that revival of tourism would not be as fast and easy as it has been after the earthquake of 2015.
He stressed the need for managing marketing activities to bring limited number of tourists ensuring health safety protocols of the World Health Organisation.
Tourism entrepreneur and coordinator of Nepal Tourism Year 2020 Yogendra Shakya said that the tourism industry was passing through the hardest time ever and it would take four to five years to bring it to its previous state.
“No significant improvement in tourism industry can be expected before 2024/25,” Shakya said.
Shakya stressed coordinated efforts of the government and the private sector to keep tourism the sector alive.
He said that the private sector was ready to help manage airports to bring in tourists. He stressed the need for implementing stimulus packages introduced by the government and the central bank for the revival of the tourism sector.
He said that the private sector should manage their business in this crisis without expecting more from the government as the government was also facing problem in revenue collection.
He urged the government to end the trend of providing relief packages only to those entrepreneurs who are organised under the ruling party.