Nepal Earthquake 2015 and Tourism

The world knows that Nepal has been victimized by the earthquakes. The two big earthquakes; the first one of 7.8 magnitude, struck at the depth of 18.5 km, the epicenter from Gorkha, Barpak and the second of 7.3 magnitude, the epicenter from Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk districts have devastated buildings, some of them plunged inside, collapsed many historical monuments, shook everything. Tremors were felt very far up to India and China. The recurring aftershocks caused mass panic. People were living in open air. The tremor caused fresh landslides. This sparked an avalanche at Mt. Everest and Langtang Region. Nepali people will never forget those helping hands, rescuers whose great presence wiped out tears of wounded, bereaved and helpless people. A US military helicopter UH-1 Huey, carrying 6 US marines and two Nepalese soldiers, went missing when on a disaster relief operation in central Nepal. We salute them!

This is a natural disaster. This can be anywhere at any time. But the question is: will there really be a denouement in tourism? Will this industry be down as some people say? It’s true our world heritage sites only in Kathmandu have been destroyed. As the Nepali Government has estimated, our trekking trails altogether 155 km have been damaged but we don’t see, we have to be that much pessimistic. We do not agree that this will be the most devastating blow for the long term. Only the thing that the world should know that Nepal still has very safe trekking trails. Annapurna Region is safe. It is still one of the 10, the most interesting trekking trail in the world. Obviously, we have challenges to make the visitors feel safe while staying in the hotels, lodges; doing trekking, visiting sites and so on.

The world has kept the record that there was Everest avalanche last year and 16 died. There was Annapurna blizzard in October and 80 died. Despite this, a record number of tourists visited in Nepal in 2014, boosted by an influx of visitors from China and India. So, it is the time that we all should be in the speed of recovery and rebuilding. It is the time to be very responsible, constructive and creative. It is the time to get up. We trembled, shivered, cried, screamed….We were horrified. We were being buried in the rubbles. It is time to handle the situation rationally. The world is praying for us. They smile, come to hug us and go to see the landscapes, beautiful village houses, and meet the local people again.