Deserted Bhaktapur gradually reviving tourism

The tourist sites in Bhaktapur Municipality in Bhaktapur district were deserted for nearly 24 months thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.    

As the COVID-19 pandemic is winding down and due to vaccination drive, ease in the international travel restrictions among others, more and more people are visiting the historical town. Travel and tourism is gradually reviving here. Bhaktapur Municipality used to welcome around 3,000 foreign tourists on a daily basis prior to COVID-19. During the COVID-19, the tourist sites here did not see a single footfall of foreign visitors. Lately, 60-90 foreign tourists visit Bhaktapur, informs Bhaktapur Municipality’s chief of the information centre, Gautam Lasiba.    

Health safety protocols have been put in place against COVID-19 for safe tourism. The Municipality had collected around Rs 260 million as revenue from tourists in 2019/20 BS, he said, adding that only Rs 2.9 million was collected in the fiscal year 2020/21.    

In August, 228 tourists visited Bhaktapur, 380 in September, 964 in October and 1,923 as of Nov.12 this year. The local government has intensified works relating to reconstruction of the quake-damaged historical monuments, the tourist attractions in the medieval town.