KATHMANDU: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai said the coronavirus pandemic has incurred a loss of Rs 60 billion in the tourism sector.

Speaking at a virtual interaction on the resumption of the tourism sector organized by Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) on Sunday, Minister Bhattarai said it has been a challenging task to restore the oss incurred by travel bans and other steps taken by the Nepal government to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

“It has been a daunting task to restore the lost economy as the coroanvirus pandemic incurred a loss of Rs 60 billion in the tourism sector,”said Minister Bhattarai.

Bhattarai said his ministry is constanly taking updates from the Ministry of Finance and Nepal Rastra Bank regarding the economic package for the restoration of the tourism sector.

Also speaking on the occasion, CNI President Satish Kumar Moore suggested that we should resume the tourism sector and civil aviation services by adopting health measures.

CNI member and Chairman of Shree Airlines Sudhir Mittal said both national and internal flights should be resumed to restore the loss incurred by the pandemic.