Himalayan News Service

KATHMANDU:The country’s tourism sector has suffered losses worth Rs 44 billion in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of April 25 and subsequent powerful aftershocks which heavily damaged the tourism infrastructure.

This has consequently hit the mountaineering, trekking and tour businesses. Of the total losses amounting to Rs 44 billion in the tourism sector alone, the private sector has faced a loss of Rs 23.22 billion and the remaining accounts for loss to public properties.

As per the preliminary data of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the hotel sector suffered the highest loss of Rs 16 billion in terms of assets, according to Mohan Krishna Sapkota, spokesperson for MoCTCA, and also the tourism ministry’s focal point of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment. Apart from hotels, asset losses of places providing ‘home stay’ facility has been calculated to be Rs 1.72 billion.

Damage to cultural heritage sites, shrines, pagodas and temples accounted for Rs 19.35 billion. Under this category, damage to archaeological sites — properties over 100 years old — has been estimated at Rs 7.35 billion and loss to other properties amounts to Rs 12 billion.

The government needs Rs 426 million to restore the damaged trekking trails only.

Mountaineering sector suffered  a loss of Rs 1 billion as the infrastructure built in the Langtang and Khumbu (Everest) regions was destroyed.

MoCTCA has also calculated the loss to tour and trekking businesses. Tour and trekking businesses suffered losses of Rs two billion and Rs 3.50 billion, respectively, according to Sapkota. “We are still receiving the data of damages from the different sectors and the figure may slightly go up from our preliminary calculations.”