The coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted the Nepali tourism sector<\/a>, especially when the government has planned to boost tourism through the ‘Visit Nepal 2020<\/strong>‘ campaign. The Himalayan country, which sees heavy footfall throughout the year, has navigated a bleak year in terms of revenue and livelihood.<\/p>\n As the new COVID-19 infection cases have declined steadily in the last two months, the Nepali tourism sector has started gaining traction lately.<\/p>\n According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the number of foreign visitors to the country dropped by more than 80% in 2020<\/strong>, the lowest in 34 years.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A total of 230,085 international tourists visited Nepal in 2020<\/strong>, as the coronavirus pandemic restricted global travel.<\/p>\n \u201cThe arrival figure is far worse than the downturn during the Maoist insurgency (1996-2006) and the 2015 earthquakes combined,\u201d said Dhananjaya Regmi, NEB CEO.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cBut we hope to rebound by mid-2021,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Though April, May, and June witnessed the lowest footfall, the number of visitors has increased gradually to around 10,000 in December, giving the much-needed hope for the Nepali tourism sector<\/a>.<\/p>\n