Kathmandu: After two massive earthquakes, Kathmandu’s infrastructure lies in ruins… and so does its main source of income – tourism.
The city’s few surviving attractions are largely deserted.
The Quake Hit Durbar Square of Kathmandu
On Kathmandu’s usually bustling Thamel Street, local merchants say they are struggling. They say they need their tourists to come back.
“If you come to Nepal, that is a good relief for us. If you visit, because you’re the people like source income for us. Tourism has great potential in Nepal.”
Travel and tourism contribute up to 4 percent of Nepal’s GDP.
About 800,000 tourists visited the country last year, but that was before the quakes.
Between them, the two earthquakes of not only killed more than 8,500 people, they also decimated key heritage sites.
The owner of United Tours and Travel, Sudarshan Prasad, predicts the situation will get worse.
He says, “Lots of our monuments area are destroyed, and the trekking area is also affected by the earthquake, so I think (in the) near future, we will get some cancellation.”
The Nepali government says restoring those sites could take years of work and cost millions of dollars… money that might normally come from tourism.
Ventuno