September 5: Hoteliers of Nagarkot, a hill station on the outskirts of Kathmandu, are upbeat about the prospect of tourism revival as the local authorities have stepped up vaccination drive in the area which is a major tourism hub of the country.
As many as 600 hotel entrepreneurs, employees and locals have so far received vaccines against coronavirus infection, the state-owned national new agency RSS reported.    
According to RSS, hotel entrepreneurs say they feel secured after receiving the second dose of vaccine against Covid-19.

The vaccination drive has become effective in Nagarkot due to the coordination between District Health Office, Kavre and Nagarkot-Naldum Tourism Development Committee.    
“We feel a sigh of relief after being inoculated. The coronavirus infection rate is also decreasing. With this, we are hopeful of gradual recovery of pandemic-battered tourism enterprises,” RSS quoted the committee’s secretary and Mount Everest Hotel’s operator, Pradeep Jung Adhikari.    
Stakeholders claim that the successful vaccination drive has imparted a message that Nagarkot is ‘safe’ for tourists.

Gokul Lamichhane, operator of Maryland Hotel, said inflow of domestic tourists is increasing lately at hotels that have been operational adopting health safety protocol. “Arrival of tourists on weekends and holidays is on the rise. We are optimistic to welcome more external tourists with the decline in the infection rate of coronavirus.” he added.