COVID-19, Tourism, and Nepalese Leisure Travelers’ Willingness to Travel

Abstract

The paper aims to explore and understand COVID-19 and its effect on tourism in Nepal. More specifically, the study intends to find out Nepalese leisure travelers’ past traveling behavior and their willingness to travel once the government of Nepal relaxes the COVID-19 related lockdown and measures. The study used exploratory research design and used a survey method to find out respondents’ opinions on aspects of COVID-19 and tourism. The use of convenience sampling for collecting responses yielded 316 responses through email and social media platforms that lasted for three weeks in June - July 2020. The research revealed that most of the respondents are less affected by COVID-19 and are willing to take a holiday/vacation once there is relaxation of the COVID-19 measures. The majority of the respondents believed tourism as a significant part of the Nepalese economy, and expected tourism in Nepal would recover from the COVID situation.

The Prospects of Domestic Tourism in Post-Covid Nepal: Connecting the Missing Dots

“…Domestic tourism is expected to recover quickly amidst longer international travel bans. Dahal (2020) recognized the lack of statistics on Nepalese visitors traveling for leisure purposes suggesting Nepalese travelers' willingness to explore tourist destinations after the relaxation of government travel restrictions. Denzin & Lincoln (1994) define qualitative research as multi-method in focus, employing an interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject matter.…”

“…Nepalese travelers spent approximately Rs 48 billion on international travel holidays in the first half of the fiscal year 2018/19 whereas foreign tourists only spent 36.5 billion during the same period according to Nepal Rastra Bank's data. Nepalese leisure travelers have the disposition to travel once travel restrictions are pulled off (Dahal, 2020). Although domestic tourism has been steadfastly growing in developed nations, they have not been a priority in Nepal.…”

Impact of COVID-19 on Pilgrimage Tourism: A Case Study of Lumbini, Nepal

“…It was in year 1968, the word coronavirus got discovered in the world (Dahal, 2020). Th us, it has been more than 50 years since the "coronavirus" got originated in the world (Ulak, 2020).…”

“…A report by Baker (2015) suggests that travel activities infl uence disease outbreak and helps the increase of such diseases (Hollingsworth et al, 2007). Travel for pilgrimage purposes show more meaningful mobility such as railways, airways, land transportation and the use of such system and services contribute the spread of diseases (Dahal. 2020).…”

“…Th us, the health and safety has challenged to change in their behavior to travel. Th ere have also been important debates over pandemic and its impact on the travel mobility and vice versa (Dahal, 2020). Th e popular pilgrimage sites for pilgrims in the world has been interrupted by coronavirus and the destination is without pilgrims at the moment.…”