The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) unveiled a 74-page Tourism Revitalisation Action Plan-2022 to promote sustainable development of tourism, which has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic that gripped the entire world since early 2020. The action plan has envisaged marking 2023-2033 as the Visit Nepal Decade, which will be launched in the next three months. The ministry aims to target all non-resident Nepalis to visit Nepal under 'Send non-resident Nepalis and foreigners to Nepal' campaign as a pilot project for promoting tourism in the country. In a bid to promote night tourism within the Kathmandu Valley, the ministry aims to take tourists around Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur and Kirtipur during night time in collaboration with the private sector. With the concept of 'Clean Nepal: Green Nepal', the three tiers of government, civil society and private sector will launch a cleaning and colouring campaign at major tourist destinations. Besides launching the promotional campaign, the ministry also has a plan to amend the laws related to tourism, aviation, national culture, tourism board and the mountaineering sector. Chitwan and Pokhara will be developed as wedding and other recreational destinations, targeting especially Indian and Bangladeshi tourists. For this, the government will enhance road and air connectivity.

The action plan envisages better utilising the Gautam Buddha (GBIA) and Pokhara Regional International (PRIA) airports by offering all international flights LPN (landing, parking and navigation) facility for free for a certain period with a certain discount on ground handling charge. The GBIA has already offered a number of concessions to international flights for one year. However, the GBIA will not operate in full potential unless the government secures more air routes for take-off and landing. The two new airports are vital for tourism diversification as many more tourists will fly directly to the GBIA to visit Lumbini and PRIA for trekking and mountaineering.

Nepal's tourism has concentrated on a few places such as the Kathmandu Valley, Pokhara, Chitwan, Lumbini and the Everest region. The action plan should come up with sustainable tourism plan in the mid- and far-western regions, which have seen no tourism activities despite over 50 years of tourism history. We cannot expect quality and high-end tourists in the country as long as we fail to keep our cities and surrounding areas neat and clean and free from garbage and air pollution. The Kathmandu Valley, for example, has been marred by the waste management problem for decades. No tourist wishes to venture out of his/her hotel as long as s/he sees a pile of garbage at every nook and corner, which is not only an eyesore, but also a fertile ground for communicable diseases. First of all, we - the government and private sector - must learn how to manage our waste properly - even on trekking routes - so that foreign tourists feel quite comfortable going out to enjoy our cultural heritage and natural beauty. As tourism is a highly sensitive business, we cannot expect the desired number of foreign visitors unless we keep our local environment neat, clean and green as well as tourist-friendly. We need to translate our plan of action into reality with a practical approach.

Monkeypox scare

With the World Health Organisation declaring monkeypox as a global emergency, Nepal's concerned health authority would do well to stay fully prepared should there be an outbreak here. Since May, more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported from 74 countries, including India, although deaths from the disease have not been seen outside Africa. The detection of a monkeypox patient in New Delhi the other day should sound alarm bells in Nepal. The long open border calls for extra vigilance, although the two international airports are just as likely to allow cases to enter the country. In June this year, a man arriving from Dubai was promptly referred to the Shukraraj Tropical Disease Hospital by TIA officials after showing its symptoms.

An outbreak of any disease - whether monkeypox or others - is the last thing that this country will be able to tolerate, after seeing what COOVID-19 has done to the economy. Even after two-and-a-half years, the pandemic is refusing to go away, with cases showing a spike in recent days and Nepal reporting two deaths from it on Sunday. Being aware about the modes of transmission of monkeypox is the best way to prevent it from spreading.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.