KATHMANDU, JULY 21

The government has announced that hotels and restaurants will be allowed to reopen from July 30.

A Cabinet meeting held on Monday took the decision of resuming hotels and restaurants considering the upcoming tourist season that will begin from September.

However, hotels and restaurants will not be allowed to organise any parties and programmes in which a large number of people will congregate, said Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada.

Currently, hotels and restaurants are only allowed to provide take-away services.

Along with this, the travel, trekking and mountaineering companies will also be allowed to open from July 30.

“The decision has been taken considering the survival of the tourism industry,” he said.

Amid this, tourism stakeholders have appreciated the government’s initiative to provide relief to sustain their businesses. Speaking during an interaction programme regarding Monetary Policy 2020-21 today organised by Nepal Tourism Board, stakeholders as well as the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation welcomed the Monetary Policy recently unveiled by Nepal Rastra Bank.

“From refinancing to extending deadline for loan and interest payment and reducing interest rate, NRB has brought a policy that is supportive for the industry to survive,” said Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, secretary of MoCTCA. He further said that the government has prioritised the survival of the tourism sector.

“We have been informed that foreigners are interested to travel to Nepal, which is a very positive sign and now we have to be ready to welcome the guests,” he said, “Along with the survival, we also have to work for revival for which domestic tourism also has to be promoted.”

As part of promoting domestic tourism, the government is preparing ‘One Province, One Destination’ project, he added.

Meanwhile, tourism entrepreneurs have urged the government and the central bank to execute the provisions mentioned in the Monetary Policy as soon as possible and monitor the banks regarding effective implementation of policies.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 22, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.