Nepal Tourism, COVID-19 and Vaccine

Tourism is the social and cultural phenomenon of people traveling to new places for new experiences and fun which is the escape to spirituality and joy. The movement of people to experience new things sums up the main ideology of tourism as a whole. When the mobility is halt, it adversely affects the industry carrying it. And COVID- 19 has taken the tourism industry to ruins. Especially in Nepal where the Tourism Industry holds about 10% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, COVID-19 halted everything. Nepal had a “Visit Nepal 2020” campaign that intended to attract more tourists, create new jobs, and make $2 billion in revenue. But COVID-19 came like a storm that shattered everything. The whole situation is really tough for tourism base country, so we are summarize all in this topic of Nepal Tourism Covid-19 Vaccine.

COVID-19

COVID-19 is a virus disease that has devastated the whole world’s economy and well-being. According to WHO, ‘19’ stands for the year when COVID was detected that is 2019. The disease is cause by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 is an acute respiratory disease that spreads through respiratory tracts, respiratory secretions, and droplets. As soon as COVID-19 has entered the world, it has created havoc all over. There are two types of diseases. They are epidemic and pandemic. If a disease affects a large number of people within a community or region in a quick time, then such a disease is termed an epidemic. Meanwhile, a Pandemic is an epidemic that spreads across countries and continents.

The ‘P’ in pandemic means passport which is the license to travel across the world. COVID-19 A global health emergency. The world has experienced a large number of pandemics and epidemics in the last 40 years. But, none of them had caused such adverse implications over the global economy than COVID-19. By this fact, we can have an idea of the adversity and risk it comes with. In the 21st century, there are two drivers that change the overall course of tourism in a country which are climate change and global health emergencies. COVID-19 is that global health emergency that has a matter of fact distorted everything, to say the least.

COVID-19 in Nepal

According to sources, In 2018 Nepal’s tourism revenue consisted of 7.9% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Nepal being a beautiful country having serene mountains and numerous trekking routes is heaven on earth. Talk about the alluring snow-capped mountain peaks that talk to you the words of natural serenity or the culturally rich temples, Nepal is a complete package. Travelers travel to Nepal not only for trekking. There are numerous choices of adventure and fun. Travelers love going on a jungle safari, bird watching, rafting, paragliding, and many more. All guarantee you a sense of ultimate joy and satisfaction, to say the least. Every year tourism brings US$ 700 million to the country’s economy. But, it has not been like that after COVID-19 struck Nepal.

With the attempt to take the tourism revenue to a whopping $2 billion via the “Visit Nepal 2020” campaign creating more job opportunities, COVID-19 completely halted the campaign.

The situation of Guides, Porters, and Leaders is very disturbing at the moment. COVID-19 took the jobs of many people who depended solely on tourism for their livelihood. Thousands of people are no out of work. Several porters, tourist guides, and helpers are jobless. Many of the guides, porters, and leaders are in dilemma of when will the travel industry go back to full swing. Seeing the condition as of now, it is really hard for the tourism industry to bloom back like before in a short time. Their supply routes are stopped and some of them are already poverty-stricken. When COVID-19 struck, Lockdown came with it. It was a measure to lower the COVID-19 infection cases leading to a COVID-free Nepal.

Due to lockdown, travel and tour agencies along with teahouses were forced to shut down their business. It made the Nepal Tourism Industry crippled to an extent nobody has imagined. In addition to this, Tourists are risk-averse and a threat to their health and safety determines their decisions whether to visit or not visit a new place. A key factor in the success of a tourist destination is the commitment and assurance to provide a safe, uninfectious, and secure environment for visitors. With the vulnerability of the COVID cases going up and up every day, it has been an impossible factor to capitalize on.

Impact of COVID-19 and Vaccination on Nepal Tourism

Talking about the impact of COVID-19 on Nepal Tourism, as I have already mentioned since the lockdown is imposed. It has halted the mobility of people to travel from one place to another. People need to take permission from government authorities to travel. It has been difficult for people to travel. After the first wave of COVID-19, everything started to open up. All the popular Trekking in Nepal and its routes were open, However the trail has very low number of internal tourists. With no arrival of foreign tourists because of COVID-19, the tourism industry in Nepal went downhill. Since the first lockdown happened due to COVID-19, the tourism industry has not soared high.

As things stand, the total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Nepal reached 6,21,056. Meanwhile, the total number of recovered cases has reached 5,56,798 which is 89.6% of the total confirm cases. The total death count of COVID-19 patients in Nepal has reached 8.726. Also, there has been a second wave of COVID-19, a far more dangerous variant of COVID-19 that first struck Nepal. Having one of the highest COVID-19 viral reproduction rates in the world, the situation is extremely dire. By mid-July, it is predicted that new cases could reach 800,000 among a total population of 30,000,000 with a death toll of 40,000 approx. So, the best way it can be avoide is through faster and safer vaccination campaigns in all parts of Nepal. The only way we can win against COVID-19 is a vaccine. The rest will follow after this.

COVID-19 Vaccine In Nepal

There were multiple different strains of COVID-19 circulating the world. The second wave of COVID-19 duly came up with different variants with each variant having different features. The second wave of COVID-19 is far more dangerous than the first wave as it always has been. It has resulted in more deaths and people are more scared. However, the vaccination has been started too. On March 7, 2021, Nepal received its first consignment of COVID-19 vaccine doses via the COVAX facility. The main goal of the COVAX facility was to supply Nepal with enough doses to vaccinate 20% of the total population.

COVAX: Covid-19 Vaccine for Nepal Tourism

The first COVAX shipment of 348,000 doses of AstraZeneca ‘Covishield’ vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), alongside 350,000 syringes and 3500 vaccine safety boxes safely arrived in Kathmandu. With a target to vaccinate 22 million people among them, refugees, migrant returnees, and other migrants through the Government of Nepal’s National Deployment and Vaccination Plan (NDVP), Nepal has started pretty well in the vaccination for COVID-19.

According to the Vaccination Statistics from Google, 3.23 million COVID-19 doses have been given. Among the total population of Nepal, roughly 723,000 people have been fully vaccinated which is just the 2.6% of the total population. The vaccines require more than one dose, the total number of fully vaccinated people is lower. However, they already have a date given when they can get their second dose. Nepal has been picking up the pace for the vaccination of the people. But due to reasons such as Political Instability, Hesitancy to receive vaccines, and the Halting of vaccines supply, the vaccination has not been that fast as compared to other countries. Starting from frontline health workers and aged people, Vaccination is being done well. However, some of the remote areas of Nepal still have not gotten the necessary supply of the vaccines and required tools to carry out the vaccination.

Nepal Tourism Relies on Vaccine

Nepal Tourism depends on the situation of vaccination in Nepal. If people are fully vaccinated, the recovered cases will increase, and people will more likely be safer from the disease. Also, if the health condition becomes normal as before, then there is no need to impose lockdown. the travel and tourism activities can go in a full swing. However, for the tourism industry to go on a full flow, it takes a lot more time and arrangements. We also can’t rule out the fact that the third wave of COVID-19 will not come. The major thing to do right now is for the government to speed up the vaccination process all over Nepal and make necessary arrangements in the hospitals to fight against what might come. It was missing after Nepal was struck with the second wave of COVID-19.

All the countries except Nepal prepared well after the COVID-19 struck. In the second wave, Nepal had to deal with very big problems as there were no proper preparations, no oxygen plants, and hospital beds. However, this time it is compulsory to be prepare for the worst-case scenarios. We can’t deal with further damage. It has crippled the whole country, and we need to fight it back. A faster full dose vaccination directly means the faster chances of the tourism industry to go back to normal. The relation between Nepal Tourism, COVID-19, and vaccination is so enticed.

Nepal Tourism, Covid-19 and Vaccine in Conclusion

All in all, COVID-19 has adversely affected the economy of the whole world. Among various sectors, the tourism and travel industry has been affected the most. In a country like Nepal where tourism is one of the biggest sources of income, COVID-19 has been the biggest devil against the economy. A full dose COVID-19 vaccination is the foremost solution to all of the problems right now that will lead a path of recovering to the previous world when nobody knew COVID-19