November 8: Tourism activities which resumed after seven months of restrictions have been affected once again due to lack of coordination among the government bodies.

The tourism industry remained closed ever since March for seven months due to the impact of coronavirus. The government recently granted permission to reopen trekking and mountaineering on October 17. However, tourism activities and flights remain disrupted in some tourism destinations due to prohibitory orders issued by the local units.

The tourism industry is returning back on track after a long time. Tourists have started arriving for trekking and mountaineering. The government had earlier banned all activities related to trekking and mountaineering during the spring season. But it later decided to revoke the ban after lifting the lockdown a few months ago. However, the restrictions are yet to be removed by various local units.

Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality of Soluhumbu district issued a notice to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) and the Lukla-based Tenjing Hillary Airport on October 23 instructing all the airline companies not to bring any passengers to the airport until another notice.

In contrast, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai has been claiming that Nepal is a safe destination for international tourists following recent high-profile visits by foreign delegates for mountaineering. The conflicting move of the rural municipality comes amid the minister’s claim that the government is preparing to open other tourism activities in the country after allowing trekking and mountain expeditions. This clearly indicates lack of coordination among the three levels of government.

According to the Secretary of Nepal Mountaineering Association, Tikaram Gurung, besides Khumbu the locals of Ghalegaun in Annapurna region have also banned the entry of tourists citing the risk of coronavirus. The said that the tourism industry that had been crawling back to normalcy has been affected due to the lack of coordination among the three tiers of government.

Gurung was of the view that instead of imposing a ban, the local authorities should have allowed tourists after PCR tests.

“There is confusion because the government has announced reopening of the tourism sector but its actions indicate otherwise,” said Gurung.