July 23: Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai has urged tourism entrepreneurs to follow the health directives issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ensure high standard of tourism in Nepal.  

Speaking at a discussion program held in the capital on Wednesday (July 22), Minister Bhattarai informed tourism entrepreneurs that there will be no shortage of capital for the revival of the tourism industry.

According to the minister, the monetary policy unveiled by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) along with a fund of Rs 50 billion allocated by the government for small and medium scale industries would help revive the tourism sector.

Government authorities assured that there will be no shortage of capital as the monetary policy has given priority to tourism sector in response to the demands made by the tourism entrepreneurs.

The fund of Rs 50 billion allocated by the government is the annual budget is expected to facilitate tourism entrepreneurs to make payments of wages to the staffers.

The fund set up by the government will be released immediately after it is made available to Nepal Rastra Bank. In addition, soft loan will be available for tourism entrepreneurs at an interest rate of only 5 percent.

Minister Bhattarai expressed his hope that the flow of tourists will gradually increase after the government resumes domestic and international flights after August 17.

Likewise, he also emphasized the need to adhere strictly to the guidelines set by the WHO for the operation of the tourism industry to overcome the risk of coronavirus.

"Even though the coronavirus infection seems to be declining at present, the risk is far from over. So, if the tourism sector doesn’t follow the guidelines, there is a chance of resurgence of the virus," he said.