Kathmandu, February 1

Stakeholders working in the tourism sector today demanded that accurate information about novel coronavirus be shared in tourist areas such as Thamel, Pokhara, Chitwan and Lumbini.

“There are a lot of tourist destinations in Nepal. We need to provide information to the tourists on coronavirus and necessary preventive measures,” said Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai.

Stakeholders also talked about the safety measures to be taken while dealing with the persons returning from China.

“Directions have been given to Tribhuvan International Airport to provide necessary space at the entry point of TIA for surveillance of the people coming to the country.

Chinese tourists are under surveillance and the surveillance will be increased if required,” Minister Bhattarai said.

The stakeholders also said that the spread of novel coronavirus spread would have serious impact on Visit Nepal 2020.

“We had expected at least five lakh Chinese tourists in Nepal this year. Chances are high that Chinese tourists may cancel their visit due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus.

The country needs to look at other options to bring in tourists in the country.

We should now attract people from Gulf countries and other Asian countries for the success of Visit Nepal 2020,” added Bhattarai.

As the doctors have warned of human to human transmission of the disease, entrepreneurs, hoteliers and stakeholders working in tourism sector demanded that the health desks be set up at other airports of the country as well. They have also demanded that the traveller’s guide including coronavirus information be made available in Mandarin, English and Nepali languages to help Chinese and other tourists know about the disease, its mode of transmission and preventive measures to be taken.

A briefing on coronavirus with different tourism organisations and its stakeholders was conducted in the capital today.

Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, secretary at the Ministry of Culture, said that promotion of the major tourist destinations in the country should be done to achieve Visit Nepal 2020 goals. “We need to give message to the tourists that Nepal is safe to travel,” Adhikari said.