Tibet protest hurts Nepal tourism
The Nepali tourism industry is feeling the pinch of travel restrictions imposed on foreigners in Tibet.
Entrepreneurs said it has started taking a toll on the hard-achieved recovery process.
Trekking agencies said they were losing sizable business opportunities while hotels report a fall in room occupancy.
A huge number of tourists used to travel to Tibet through Kathmandu. March to November is said to be the ideal season for tourists visiting Nepal and Tibet.
It is these tourists who largely kept our tourism sector going even during the off-season--normally extending from May to September, said the tourism entrepreneurs.
For the first time in the past two years, however, Nepal experienced a fall in tourist arrivals in April, which tour operators attributed to the travel ban. The number of visitors declined by 1 per cent to 32,665 individuals.
“We would not have seen a downturn in April had travel to Tibet not been banned,” said Suman Pandey, managing director of Explore Himalaya.
He said his company lost half a million dollars worth of business due to the closure. “Our tourism did not suffer as much as other countries experiencing political instability.
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