Last November, when the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal decided to shut down Nepal’s major air gateway Tribhuvan International Airport from 10 pm to 8 am until March 31, 2025 for the expansion of taxiways, it copped severe criticism. The action would not only affect the country’s tourism but also exacerbate the country’s economic woes. Soon, airfares rocketed, hotel bookings and air tickets saw cancellations and tourist arrivals plummeted. One factor was high fares. For instance, while a Delhi-Europe return ticket cost around 500 euros, Kathmandu-Europe return ticket cost three times more. The spring season, a peak time for tourism and related activities, is thus bound to lose its vitality.

Available data paint a grim picture. According to Nepal Tourism Board’s recent statistics, tourist arrivals in February dipped by 0.6 percent year-on-year to 96,990 individuals, with a steep decline from major sources—especially our immediate neighbours, India and China. While Indian arrivals plummeted by 25 percent, following January’s 15 percent fall, Chinese tourists, who offered some hope in 2023, also dropped by 10 percent. Other factors including a tragic bus accident in August 2023 that involved Indian tourists, several fatal air crashes in the past three years and Beijing’s suspension of Kailash Manasarovar Yatra have also deterred Indian visitors.

The tourism industry is the mainstay of Nepal’s economy. As per the annual World Travel and Tourism Council report, it generated Rs327.9 billion ($2.5 billion) in revenue and employed 1.9 million people—directly and indirectly—in 2023. Yet, Nepal has failed to assure tourists and attract them with effective plans and safety. Economists and industry experts believe the airport closure was a “haphazard” and “deliberate restriction” and could have been avoided with thought-out measures like carrying out the taxiway project in a phased manner and by reducing the closure hours, which in turn would have caused lesser disruption to international travel. Even though the aviation authorities hoped to divert flights to Pokhara and Bhairahawa international airports, the plan failed. This in turn affected hotels and restaurants, transport, communication and retail sectors, as well as trekking agencies and guides, adventure tourism companies, tour operators and stakeholders.

At a time when tourist arrivals have been steadily exceeding pre-pandemic levels in many countries, Nepal just witnessed the first drop in their number since the post-Covid recovery. Thus, reviving tourism has become ever more vital. Pokhara Metropolitan City, one of the major go-to places and a gateway to the Annapurna trekking region, recently declared “Pokhara Visit Year-2025”, hoping to bring in 2 million tourists and promote internal tourism. In order to send more Chinese tourists to Nepal, Beijing declared 2025 “Visit Nepal Year in China” when former premier Pushpa Kamal Dahal visited the northern neighbour last year.

The government also aimed to welcome 1.6 million tourists in this fiscal year. These ambitions, however, will not be fulfilled unless the crisis in the tourism industry is first addressed. As suggested by stakeholders, it is vital to boost travellers’ confidence in visiting Nepal by maintaining stability in airfare and ensuring both air and road safety. Rather than putting more money into glitzy marketing campaigns, tourism recovery has to start with efforts to ensure that tourists coming to Nepal get at least the basic facilities to make their stay safe and comfortable.