FNCCI asks government to waive visa fees to boost tourist arrivals

Kathmandu December 23- The private sector has asked the government to waive visa fees temporarily to keep Nepal’s tourism industry alive as it is close to collapsing after being hit by a series of bad luck this year.

“A visa fee exemption for at least six months would be an important move to boost tourist arrivals at a time when tourism, one of the major contributors to the economy, has been on a downhill course,” said Bhawani Rana, senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), speaking Tuesday at an interaction entitled Tourism in the Present Context.

The FNCCI has also recommended making Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) cost-effective or a free port to encourage international airlines to pass through here.

“TIA is known as one of the world’s most expensive airports, and the government needs to consider this issue seriously,” said Rana. Besides, the government should think of bringing in the private sector to manage the country’s sole international airport amid worldwide criticism over its poor services.

The FNCCI has also asked the government to introduce separate incentive packages for tourism entrepreneurs and schemes to attract domestic and foreign investment during this time of crisis.
Binayak Shah, general secretary of Hotel Association Nepal, said that Nepal’s tourism industry was facing its most critical phase in almost a decade. Source: TKP