Kathmandu, February 29

Considering the aggressive spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) across the globe, the government has postponed the promotional campaign of Visit Nepal 2020.

Speaking at a programme held here today, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai informed that the government was focused on promoting domestic tourism by postponing the tourism promotional activities overseas until the situation is favourable.

“The decision was taken by the government after the coronavirus outbreak that started in China spread to Europe, America, Gulf nations and the East Asian nations,” informed Bhattarai, adding that the promotion of the mega tourism campaign has been postponed for a short span of time and will be resumed soon.

Speaking at the Buddhist Chamunda Heritage Walk event, Bhattarai further said that once the coronavirus epidemic is brought under control, the government will ramp up its tourism campaign promotional activities.

On January 1, the government had launched Visit Nepal 2020, a mega tourism campaign aimed at attracting two million foreign tourists into the country. The government has allocated Rs 100 million in fiscal year 2019-20 for the campaign.

Bhattarai acknowledged that the target of bringing in two million tourists in the country this year will be difficult to meet because of the coronavirus outbreak.

As of now, the coronavirus does not pose a threat to Nepal, as one 32-year-old Wuhan-returnee, who tested positive over a month ago, recovered from the disease after receiving treatment in quarantine.