Kathmandu, May 3

With just two months left for the current fiscal year to end the government is in a rush to prepare the policies and programmes along with the budget for the next fiscal year. However, due to the effect of the coronavirus the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has not yet finalised its policies and programmes for the next fiscal year as it is busy compiling the data of the impact that the virus has caused on sectors that fall under it.

“This is not a regular year like before. The coronavirus and subsequent nationwide lockdown have hit all sectors very badly. So, without compiling the records of the impact that the virus has had we cannot say anything about our upcoming plans,” mentioned MoCTCA Information Officer Rudra Singh Tamang. It has been estimated that the tourism sector may face losses worth Rs 160 billion this year due to the COVID-19. For instance, the aviation sector has faced losses worth Rs four billion during the lockdown period.

According to Tamang, the ministry is compiling data on the impact of the coronavirus on culture, tourism and aviation sectors. “We are still not aware about the exact damages caused by the virus. At present we are holding discussions with the stakeholders and compiling the impact report,” he said.

“We will prepare our policies and programmes for the upcoming budget based on that report.”

The ministry is compiling data of investors, workers, total investment amount, investment of banks and exact losses in cooperation with concerned stakeholders.

The ministry has however requested the Ministry of Finance to resolve the financial issues of the tourism industry.

Meanwhile, Nepal Tourism Board has started a survey to find out the impact of the coronavirus on the country’s tourism industry.

The data is being collected from airlines, hotels, tourist vehicles, restaurants, and rafting, trekking and mountaineering businesses.

Investments worth billions are at risk and around 1.3 million workers involved in the tourism sector are expecting the MoCTCA to provide relief to them through the upcoming budget.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 4, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.