About a month and a half ago, the government had decided to postpone promotional campaigns linked to the tour year amid the worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus.
With the spread of coronavirus infection in many parts of the world including China, Nepal was reported to have low risk of Covid-19.
Amid the pressure, the government had postponed various programs linked to the tour year only on February 29.
The previous meeting of the Council of Ministers decided to dissolve the Secretariat's office from the beginning of Baisakh, the Tourism Ministry Secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari told BBC Nepali.
Considering the potential risks of the coronavirus epidemic, the government had banned travel to many countries and banned climbing in the spring before the emergency was banned.
Postponement
The official said that the meeting of the Council of Ministers held a week and a half ago had "completely postponed the tour year program" and decided to dissolve the secretariat for the tour year.He said, "Right now, we have not thought about anything immediately, but we expect next year to be a renaissance year for the tourism sector. Now, we will discuss next year's budget."
The government had announced the 2020 as the tourist year as a target of bringing in 2 million tourists.
But tourism and civil aviation minister Yogesh Bhattarai were criticized, saying the coronavirus infection that appeared in China since the end of last year was obstructed to meet Nepal's goal, but said that it was propagating the idea that Nepal was free from coronavirus abroad.
The meeting, which was held in the presence of Minister Bhattarai on Falgun 6, had decided to transmit the message that Nepal is a region free of coronavirus to the international world.
For this, it was instructed to prepare audio-visual material in English, Chinese and Hindi languages in Nepal free of coronavirus within three days and also to propagate through the Ministry and abroad.
Nepal had decided to cancel the tourism program after Japan and Germany canceled tourism promotion exports as the coronavirus infection spread to other countries.
Relief
Businessmen have been demanding the government to bring relief programs, saying that Nepal's tourism industry will be shut down due to the global crisis of coronavirus.Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism said they are discussing with the Ministry of Finance.
He said, "We have sent the details to the Ministry of Finance. We have only given the field details to us. Only after detailed study can the details of the damage be made."
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism contributed 4.7 percent of Nepal's gross domestic product in the year.
How to be safe from CoronaVirus? Read WHO's official announcement.
The agency said that tourism sector has provided employment to about 11 lakh people at that time.
The government had on January 1 announced a tourist year with a huge spectacle at the Dashrath Stadium.
Earlier, the government had organized a visit to Nepal in 1998 and 2011.
According to the Nepal Tourism Board, around five lakh tourists visited Nepal in 1998 and around 7.5 lakh in the year 2011.
India, China, the United States, Britain and Sri Lanka are the most visited tourists in recent times.
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