Trekking and mountaineering groups will also be allowed to take foreign clients up to the mountains from 17 October, government spokesperson and Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali told a briefing. The decisions were taken on Monday’s Cabinet meeting on the recommendation of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Committee (CCMC).

From 1 September, limited regular international flights were also allowed as long as the total number of arriving passengers daily did not exceed 800. Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Yogesh Bhattarai hinted last week that up to 3,000 passengers a day may soon be allowed to land.

Passengers must have RT PCR negative reports done 72 hours before departure. Despite this, inbound passengers have complained about unnecessarily long waits at holding centers in Kathmandu on arrival. 

 All the hotels in Nepal are almost empty since March. This decision of the Nepal Government makes it somehow a relief to Nepalese Hotel entrepreneur. Last year in 2019, 1.3 million tourists had arrived in Nepal but this year 2020 which was announced as visit year totally get lost due to the corona pandemic. It is a bitter history in the tourism history of Nepal. 

Tourism brought in $700 million in 2018-19 and makes up 8% of Nepal's GDP. Nearly half-a-million Nepalis are directly employed in the trekking and mountaineering sector, with 2 million others benefiting indirectly from tourism.

Nepal is the paradise for trekking, heaven for adventure lovers. Trekking is the biggest sector that makes Nepal known to the world. Everest Base Camp Trek, Annapurna Base Camp Trek, Everest Expedition, Off the beaten path trek are the most famous trekking and adventure destination in Nepal.

Even prior to this announcement, two expeditions had been granted permission to climb in Nepal. One was a special permit for the as all-Nepali expedition to Baruntse which has already left for base camp, and the other to a 15-member Bahraini Military expedition to Mt Manaslu that includes three Britons. The Bahrainis are arriving in Kathmandu on a charter flights on Wednesday.