Tourism entrepreneurs demand vaccine against COVID-19 within 30 days
KATHMANDU, August 11: Different umbrella organizations related with tourism have demanded vaccines for tourism entrepreneurs, employees and staffers deputed in the frontline at tourism destinations against COVID-19 within 30 days.
Leading tourism sector organisations have called on the government to arrange vaccination of all citizens against COVID-19 at the earliest to save their lives.
KATHMANDU, August 18: Leading tourism sector organisations have called on the government to arrange for vaccinating all citizens against COVID-19 at the earliest and protect their lives.
More than 12 organisations including Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA), Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), Nepal Mountaineering Association, met with Minister of State for Health and Population, Umesh Shrestha at his office on Tuesday and urged for the vaccination.
The tourism entrepreneurs on the occasion congratulated the Minister of State on behalf their respective organisations and wished him a successful term in office. They also handed him a three-point joint memorandum of demands.
The demands include inoculating within 30 days the workers, employees and the persons concerned as well as the tourism service providers working in the frontline at the various tourism destinations across the country.
Similarly, the other demands include immediate implementation of policy and programme related with tourism announced in the budget of the current fiscal year 2020/21 and making arrangement for tourists visiting Nepal and immunizing with full dose of vaccine against coronavirus so that they need not stay in quarantine as well as arrangement of PCR test at airport and other entry points.
Leading tourism sector organizations have called on the government to arrange vaccinations for all citizens against COVID-19 at the earliest and protect their lives.
ITAHARI, August 16: Proactive tourism entrepreneurs of Province No 1 have started tourism observation trip in eastern Terai. On Monday, they visit parts of Morang and Jhapa.
''We have been to various travelling hangouts in eastern Terai to have a fresh observation in the pandemic-battered travelling scene,'' informed Basudev Baral, also the deputy coordinator of Nepal Tourism Board-appointed Internal Tourism Revival Committee.
Baral has said they have accessed fresh situation in contemporary tourism scenes in Morang and Jhapa. Other entrepreneurs included coordinator of Internal Tourism Revival Committee (ITR) Chair Bhabish Shrestha, ITR member Jiwan Parajuli, Chair of Hotel and Tourism Entrepreneurs Association Sunsari Tej Bahadur Puri, tourism entrepreneur Alina Magar, among others.
''We even went to Kechanakawal, the lowest point of Nepal which is situated at 58 metrs above the sea level,'' shared Alina Magar, ''We, the tourism entrepreneurs of Province 1 are lucky to have both lowest point of Nepal to the highest point of the world, Mt. Everest.''
Tej Bahadur Puri said tourism entrepreneurs they have met shared mixed emotions. He said tourism entrepreneurs are having hard time paying their banking installments owing to slowed business and are also optimistic on some sorts of governmental helps.
ITR member and also the chair of Hotel Entrepreneurs Association of Itahari, Jiwan Parajuli said the declared internal tourism vacation allowance of governmental employees can boost internal tourism to an extent. ''If all government employees utilized their vacation allowance and invest on their domestic travelling, we are ready to facilitate them.''
Parajuli said their team is readying weekly tour package from cities as Itahari, Dharan, Biratnagar and Jhapa.
''Still, we are not that much excited,'' said Parajuli. He added, ''It is because the fears of another COVID-19 outbreak is not far from over as Delta variant is said to have making rounds and not all people are vaccinated.''
POKHARA, May 23: The Pokhara Tourism Council has drawn the attention of the government towards protecting the lives of the people by immediately bringing in COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccination is inevitable as the second wave of the Corona Virus pandemic has severely impacted the people and their day-to-day life.
Issuing a statement on Saturday, the Council has demanded that the government protect the right of the citizens to live, by giving first priority to their health in the present situation. As the tourism sector has suffered direct and long-term impact as a result of the pandemic, the Council has urged the government to make arrangements for vaccination at the earliest to tourism entrepreneurs, staffers and workers so as to protect the tourism sector.
KATHMANDU, May 8: Tourism entrepreneurs have urged the government to declare the tourism industry as a crisis-ridden one, in the wake of the effects of the second wave of COVID-19 on the industry.
Tourism entrepreneurs of Pokhara have hosted a daylong Yoga and meditation on mental wellbeing so as to reduce mental tensions stemming from COVID impact on their businesses of late.
Participants of the Yoga camp jointly organized by Pokhara Tourism Council and Yogashala at Begnas Shivalaya Yoga Resort said the Yoga and meditation had refreshed and motivated them to maintain mental wellbeing.
Council chairperson Gopi Bahadur Bhattarai shared, "COVID-19 has adversely impacted the business and enterprises and the situation resulting from such impact has caused anxiety among entrepreneurs. We have realized that the programme was successful in keeping mental wellbeing through Yoga and meditation".
He further noted that the Yoga and meditation exercise had believably recharged positive energy among the entrepreneurs.
Also speaking on the occasion, Tourism Entrepreneurs Association Pokhara chair Babarjung Gurung said the unfavourable situation surfaced in the business due to COVID-19 had added disappointment. He further said the Yoga and meditation exercise had provided skills to release tensions and take patience.
"The entrepreneurs have come across several unprecedented and unexpressed pain. The Yoga provided us an opportunity to keep mental health and wellbeing in such difficult situation', he added.
The Yoga exercise was attended by 30 tourism entrepreneurs and media workers. Yoga teacher Swami Dhyan Sagar Shrestha had facilitating the exercise, informed Ram Chandra Sharma, general secretary of the council.
MYAGDI, Dec 29: Hoteliers of Myagdi have demanded opening of tourist areas in Mustang district. COVID-19 pandemic and its risk of spreading led to the closure of all religious and tourist areas in Mustang since March. They have maintained that the areas have been closed despite the fact that they are resuming their business activities by following all safety measures.
