Kathmandu, Sep 7 (PTI) Nepal has stepped up efforts to reassure international tourists that the country remains open for travel, as it seeks to prevent the devastating Bhotekoshi flash floods from derailing
its crucial autumn tourism season and undoing a fragile recovery in the sector.
Tourism Minister Khadak Raj Poudel has launched a social media campaign under the hashtag “Nepal Calling”, telling foreign tourists that the country remains open and its Himalayan trekking routes are ready to receive visitors.
“Nepal is still open… Our Himalayan trekking routes are still waiting for you,” he said in a video message posted on social media.
“You coming to Nepal now is not just for a holiday. It is also a great help to the country, which is grappling with the devastating disaster of flash floods,” Poudel said.
As per government data, tourism contributes about 6.7 per cent to Nepal’s GDP directly and indirectly and provides more than one million jobs.
The sector’s vulnerability means that a fall in foreign tourist arrivals could have a wider economic impact, affecting hotels, trekking agencies, guides, porters, airlines, restaurants and transport operators.
The devastating flash floods on August 26 came just ahead of the September-November peak tourist season, which accounts for around 40 per cent of the country’s annual foreign tourist arrivals, according to news portal ekantipur.com.
Nepal received 85,444 foreign tourists in August, 3.65 per cent fewer than during the same month last year. Tourism businesses reported a rise in cancellations after the floods struck in the final week of August, it said.
The flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal.
The Bhotekoshi River, which flows south from the Himalayan border region, carried the floodwaters downstream, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.
As part of its efforts to avert a tourism crisis following the flash floods, the government has also asked Nepali diplomatic missions and international partners to convey that the disaster was geographically limited and that major tourist destinations and airports across the country are functioning normally.
Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal told representatives of diplomatic missions and development partners in Kathmandu last week that Kathmandu Valley, Pokhara, Chitwan, Lumbini, Janakpur, Annapurna, Sagarmatha and Bardiya remain open to tourists.
The move comes amid reports that the floods have already begun affecting bookings.
The impact comes at a difficult time for Nepal’s tourism industry, which has yet to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and has faced further disruptions from political unrest in September 2025 and tensions linked to the conflict in West Asia.
Mandeep Giri, managing director of the Dome Himalaya Hotel in Kathmandu’s Thamel tourist district, said around 20 per cent of bookings for the September-November season had been cancelled within a week of the disaster. Online bookings accounted for a significant share of the cancellations.
“Booking cancellations are increasing every day,” Giri was quoted as saying by ekantipur.
The tourism industry fears that images of flooded roads, collapsed bridges, stranded people and bodies recovered from rivers in Rasuwa and other northern areas could create a perception among potential visitors that the entire country has been affected.
“The message that Nepal is safe should be effectively conveyed through Nepali embassies and missions abroad,” Hotel Association of Nepal president Binayak Shah told a parliamentary committee meeting last week.
The International Relations and Tourism Committee of Parliament has urged the government to formulate an immediate strategy to revive confidence in Nepal’s tourism market, including measures to assist flood-affected tourists.
Committee chairperson Sumnima Udas said the government needed to send a “positive and credible” message about Nepal’s tourism sector following the disaster.
The government is considering incentives to encourage foreign visitors, including free visas, hotel discounts and easier travel arrangements.
Nepal Tourism Board acting chief Hikmat Singh Air said a revival package could also include discounts on airfares and hotels if required. The board is preparing to strengthen the “Nepal Calling” campaign in coordination with the Tourism Ministry.
Poudel has also proposed developing Rasuwa as a “climate heritage” area in the longer term, linking the disaster to Nepal’s wider climate justice campaign. PTI SCY SCY
