Nepal government issues new guidelines for incoming tourists


In an attempt to curb further spread of COVID-19 infection amid fears of a second wave, Nepal government has issued fresh guidelines for arriving tourists.

The Cabinet meeting held on March 18 approved the ‘Protocols to Manage Tourist Arrival’ proposed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA).

The fresh health safety guidelines are expected to help curb the spread of the infection.

As per the protocols, tourists wanting to visit the country and wanting to go for mountaineering activities will have to submit their overall details to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and Department of Tourism (DoT), respectively.

NTB and DoT will then forward the applications to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Department of Immigration (DoI). The tourists will be able to come to Nepal only after receiving approval from the Ministry and DoI.

Similarly, tourists who do not have visa service for Nepal in their respective countries can get on-arrival visa.

With the onset of tourism season, stakeholders have been asking the government to resume on-arrival visa service. Interested visitors were unable to get visa for Nepal in their countries.

The on-arrival visa service, however, will not be applicable for tourists travelling via land route.

Before travelling to Nepal, tourists should have a negative report of PCR test conducted within 72 hours before the flight, a recommendation letter from the DoT or NTB, hotel booking details, insurance documents and other required documents.

Meanwhile, the quarantine policy has not been changed. The tourists will have to stay in quarantine until the result of PCR test done here comes negative. In case of Indian tourists, rules will be applied on the basis of air bubble agreement.

Along with implementation of the protocols, all other rules and regulations implemented earlier regarding tourist arrivals have now been scrapped.