In a bid to facilitate tourists during the sudden onset of the second wave of the pandemic of COVID 19 and the lockdown that followed, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) coordinated crisis management and communication activities, as per directives given by the Government.
In the period since the lockdown in late April 2021, NTB activated its Crisis Management and Coordination Unit for prompt information dissemination, coordination and facilitation where needed. Updated information was given through NTB’s crisis webpage to ease access to official information for stranded tourists and private sector. Crisis information was also continuously disseminated through official social media handles of NTB including the Stranded in Nepal website and support groups. NTB’s crisis hotline and e-mail have responded to traveler’s queries every day, with almost 1,000 calls and 200 e-mails since the lockdown in April.
NTB has also helped track tourists in different parts of Nepal through its Travel Locator forms on NTB crisis webpage which tourists were requested to fill in when the lockdown began. Around 700 tourists have been tracked through Travel Locator forms. Similarly, around 1200 tourists have been tracked by NTB in coordination with Diplomatic missions in Kathmandu. With the help of Government and private sector NTB also facilitated in evacuation of 125 tourists trekking in different parts of Nepal to Kathmandu.
NTB has also facilitated Government in monitoring of passengers and hotels to ensure that passengers arriving to Nepal from India via Air Bubble and hotels providing them quarantine, comply safety and hygiene protocol as mandated by the Government of Nepal. In addition, NTB is working closely with the Government of Nepal in preparing of hotel list for hotel quarantine and in other tourism related work during the crisis.
