If there is anything that can significantly derail even the strongest tourism initiatives in any country, it would be political unrest and armed conflict.
In the case of Nepal, the way its government dealt with what essentially began as a peaceful protest asking for political accountability led to a ruinous drop in tourist numbers.
On 8th September 2025, Bhadra 23, 2082 by the reckoning of the ancient Nepalese calendar, the world stared in shock as a peaceful anti-corruption rally staged by youngsters turned into a violent bloodbath as state troops used deadly force against protesters, leading to a number of deaths.
The ensuing upheaval did the Nepalese tourism sector no favours, and the fact that it took a while before the interim government appointed a tourism minister to look into the issue did not help, either.
No one to do damage control
Tourism entrepreneur Lakpa Futi Sherpa bitterly remarked on the matter, saying: “The government of Nepal has never prioritised tourism. It is not a priority even now. After the Gen-Z uprising, a negative message about Nepal spread. Immediately after the movement, they should have appointed a tourism minister and a foreign minister, and summoned ambassadors from various countries to convey the message that Nepal is safe for tourists; but that did not happen.”
For Sherpa, having a tourism minister in place as soon as the unrest was quelled would have sped up the positive promotion of Nepal as a destination.
Instead, the way the government dealt with the peaceable Gen Z movement scared off tourists, even those from Nepal’s closest neighbours, as they feared being caught in the crossfire should further trouble erupt.
Sherpa recalled: “In my own company, two or three groups of foreign tourists cancelled their bookings. Bookings were cancelled in many other companies as well. Tourists are primarily concerned about safety. They want to travel, have fun, climb mountains, and trek safely. The government of Nepal could not take any initiative for the safety of tourists.”
The cost of conflict
Nepalese news agency Pardafas reported some days after the uprising that the country’s tourism industry lost around US$258.30 million in revenues.
At the time,industry professionals hoped that the country could easily bounce back; sadly, this was not the case.
While Indian travellers and those from other parts of Asia are helping keep the industry afloat, the number of North American arrivals has dropped by 28.1 percent while European numbers have fallen by nearly 19 percent since September.
The ongoing conflict involving the United States and a number of major West Asian nations has also driven down arrivals to Nepal.
Even domestic tourism is down at the moment as locals bristle under the imposition of a 13 percent value added tax (VAT) on plane fares on top of rising prices due to the soaring cost of jet fuel, and road infrastructure projects have been unreasonably delayed for months.
With that said, Nepal’s tourism industry is in serious need of a promotional intervention as it needs the help of public relations professionals to restore its global image.
If it could only pair such efforts with active restructuring and an eye to accelerating tourism infrastructure initiatives, then we could safely say that Nepalese tourism is on its way to recovery.
For now, however, all the world can do is wait and see.
