POKHARA, August 21: The tourism industry has been severely affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry which was already suffering from the initial wave of the virus was crippled due the surge of the second wave of the COVID-19 infection. As the cases of infection start to decrease, domestic tourists can be seen visiting tourist hotspots around the country.
Tourism entrepreneurs say that they have started to see movement of tourists in Pokhara. Despite the visit, tourism businessmen say that tourists have not been able to properly tour the city and are stuck inside their hotels. Many tourist destinations around Pokhara have not been opened to the public yet. Adventure activities such as paragliding and Bungee jumping are also closed at the moment. Famous religious sites are closed as well, leading tourists to return without enjoying the full potential the city has to offer.
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According to Pokhara Airport, as many as 800 tourists fly to Pokhara on a daily basis. Citing the demand, Buddha Air has started operating flights to Bhairawa, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj as well, Devraj Subedi, information officer at the Pokhara Airport, informed Republica.
“The number of domestic tourists is high, even during the risk of COVID-19. We forget the presence of the pandemic by seeing the crowd of people who arrive here,” Subedi said.
Likewise, hotels in Pokhara have slowly started to rise again due to the arrival of domestic and international tourists, even though in small numbers. Many hotel owners and tourism entrepreneurs have stressed the need for opening the major tourist destinations inside the city to improve the visit experience for tourists. Though tourists can be seen arriving, they are stuck inside their hotels as there is nothing they can do due to the prohibitory order enforced to control and repel the virus infection. The arrival of tourists during such unprecedented times has given some hope to tourism entrepreneurs for now.
