July 11: It’s been a while since the odd-even rule for vehicular movement has been removed. The activities and movement of people have been returning back to normal as well. Although many places in Kathmandu valley have started getting busier each day, the Thamel area still wears a deserted look.

Businesses in many places have started picking up pace. But, the business activities in the Thamel area still seem to be null.

Even though some small hotels are providing takeaway service during the daytime in the Thamel area, the night business is nil. All of the activities in Thamel have halted since the entire area focused on tourism-related activities. Before the pandemic, the daily turnover in the Thamel area was around Rs 200 million during the normal tourist season, while it was around Rs 100 million during the off-season.

Bhabishwor Sharma, chairman of Thamel Tourism Development Council, told New Business Age that most of the traders in the region are on the verge of abandoning their business after the decline in trade since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in Nepal. According to him, more than 700 traders in the area had quit their business last year due to the pandemic. Business was completely halted after it became difficult to pay rent, electricity bills and bank loans and interest.

There are almost 10,000 tourism merchants associated with hotel, restaurants, travel agencies, money exchange, and handicraft businesses in areas in and around Thamel, Paknajol, Chhetrapati, Kaldhara, and Nardevi.

Since Thamel is the most famous tourist area, the rent in this area is much more expensive in comparison to other tourist areas, said Narendra Lama, a trader associated with the hotel business for 15 years. The traders are facing a lot of trouble to pay rent due to their business going downhill.

According to him, there are traders who pay from Rs 15,000 to Rs 4500,000 per month. It means that on an average, one trader pays Rs 80,000 for rent each month.

Traders in the Thamel area have demanded that the government provide loans of up to Rs 2500,000 at 5 percent interest rate to prevent them from abandoning their businesses. They also demanded that the bank's installments be paid only after the pandemic subsides and the business is fully operational.