NTB survey to evaluate COVID-19 impact

Kathmandu, April 14

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has started a survey to find out the impact of coronavirus on the country’s tourism industry. Aiming to assess the impact on the tourism industry and to collect required data of the industry, NTB has taken the initiative for the crisis survey, said Dhananjay Regmi, chief executive officer of NTB.

As per him, data will be collected from airlines, hotels, tourist vehicles, restaurants, and rafting, trekking and mountaineering businesses. Data will also be obtained from travel and tour agencies and other related sectors.

“NTB has decided to conduct this survey and assess the collected data so that it can make recommendations to the government on the possible support required by the tourism industry to overcome the crisis brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak,” Regmi said.

Moreover, the survey is also expected to help NTB to find out the number and status of all big and small businesses related to the tourism industry.

After analysing the data, the board will forward the report to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation recommending measures that need to be taken for the tourism industry to recover from this pandemic. A few weeks back, entrepreneurs had expressed their dissatisfaction over the initial measures the government had announced for them.

Meanwhile, tourism entrepreneurs have estimated that the sector stands to lose approximately Rs 40 billion due to the crisis. The Hotel Association Nepal has also warned that 1.1 million workers are at risk of losing their jobs.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 15, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.