Kathmandu, May 27:

Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) has flayed the impromptu general strike called by Nepal Educational Republican Front (NERF) in the Kathmandu Valley today.

The strike — that has come at a time when the tourism industry has gradually begun to revive after years of falls — will hamper its recovery process, tarnishing Nepal’s image, states a NATO press release.

As the strike was called in a very short notice, tourists staying in Nepal had to cancel their long-planned sightseeing and scheduled visits at the eleventh hour. “This would send negative publicity of our tourism industry in the international arena,” adds the release.