Post COVID travelling norms in Nepal
Nepal till now seems the safest destination after pandemic which already claimed about half million lives around the globe. With only 28 deaths and those deaths are also occurred in the persons with underlying medical condition there are very few deaths in Nepal. Most probably the international flights are resumed from 1st of August and the movements for international travellers will soon start. Here we are discussing about the new travel protocol and safety measures regarding flights, transfers, sightseeing, activities, hotels, dinning and any other tourist related activities. New protocol will create the safest place both for tourist as well as the personnel engaged to handle all the activities regarding tourism. Tourism is the hardest hit industry in Nepal and it will be the late resumed business in Nepal too. Local businesses are already opened and functioning in full fledges except the public transportation, school, party palace, gym and where the gatherings of the mass are compulsory. The schools are running online classes and for remote area they already started distant learning programs using television and radio. The farming and agriculture was never affected and people already gone back to normal life. Supply chains and constructions also already resumed. New Safety norms and protocols for different tourism related places and activities are summarized below.
Hotel
Government already decided to use some of the property as quarantine places and those properties are already open. Besides the national norms the hotel has to follow the safety norms by local government depending with the location of the property.
Safety norms and measures for the hotels;
They should measure the temperature of each and every individual entering the hotel,
Gathering of more than 25 people is not allowed,
The used rooms must be left free for at least 24 hours after the check-out,
Big property are encouraged to make sanitization tunnel from where all the supplies, luggage, staff and guests are passed,
Any persons with suspicious symptoms of COVID either in guest or the staffs should be immediately reported to government allocated health service providers and due action are taken,
Hotel must manage the record of all the clients with their travel history,
Social distancing and use of mask is mandatory inside the property,
Should greet the client only with Namaste, hugging and handshaking is discouraged,
Self-service in the restaurant will be closed and a table is used just up to four people and the table to table distance must be a meter or more,
Facilities like Casino, gym and spa are closed,
Hotels are encouraged to fit sensor based automatic main doors and internet check in and check out must be encouraged,
Once the rooms are used must be cleaned properly and left free for at least next 24 hours,
Hotel must manage some rooms as isolation rooms for the safety of suspicious cases of COVID and those rooms must be left free for 72 hours after somebody get admitted in the hospitals,
Glass bottles are encouraged over plastic bottles,
Food and goods produced locally and online payments are encouraged.
Safety norms and measures for the restaurants;
Take away and home delivery are encouraged,
Must maintain a distance of One meter from table to table,
All the staffs must clean their hands every 20 minutes with soap and water; they must wash their hands after cleaning the table, using the bathrooms, and take away plates from the table,
Restaurants must facilitate clients to wash their hands as they enter the restaurant,
Should encourage online payments and discourage cash payments,
Daily and regular cleaning of the restaurant must be done,
Manage the details of the clients with entry and exit time in the restaurant,
Uses of plastic goods are discouraged.
Safety norms for Tour, Trekking agencies and any tourist related offices;
The business owners must maintain safety of themselves, their staffs and their clients according to the guidelines by ministry of health. Following points to be considered for safety of all;
Work from home are encouraged, they can maintain different schedule for different staffs so less people are inside the office premises,
If there is no workload in the office they can discourage physical presence in the office,
Meeting online should be prioritized and meeting with physical presence should be discouraged,
All the staffs are encouraged to bring lunch from home or prepare lunch in the office and owners must facilitate for this,
Until the business growth is significant they can open office only from 10 Am to 2 Pm or can make two shifts,
Safety kits must be compulsorily used in the office.
Safety norms for tourist transport;
Following are the guidelines for the tourist transportation and this should be strictly followed by all tour operators, hotel and any type of tourism related activities operator.
Car must be utilized for only three passenger including driver,
12 seated Jumbo vans must be utilized for 7 persons including driver,
20 seated mini buses should be used for 11 persons including driver,
30 seated buses should be utilized for 16 people including driver,
All the staffs must wash hands, uses safety kit and all passengers must wear masks,
Sanitization and cleaning of the vehicle must be done regularly.
Safety norms for Tour, Travel and Adventure activities;
All customers are encouraged to bring their own safety kits,
If clients get any health issues during their activities, they should inform the service providers immediately,
Travel insurance to all clients must be encouraged; insurance will be very beneficial in case of emergency needs,
Social distancing with local community and other groups during the activities must be maintained,
Must book the activities through authorized agency,
The biggest group must not include more than 15 passengers, if there is a group bigger than this they must split in to two groups,
All necessary health equipment during the trek must be managed; the guide must know the locations of the health facilities in the trekking area,
Packed lunch and lunch box are encouraged during any type of activities.
Safety norms for airlines to operate all domestic flights;
COVID special safety guidelines must be followed by all the airlines that operate flights in different sectors. The passengers who do not follow the safety guidelines might not board the flights. The following are the new norms and they will be amended considering different factors.
Self-declaration of COVID-19 form must be duly filled by every passenger before they get a boarding pass,
All international passengers must fill out passenger collator cart with their travel history which should be collected and submitted to health desk in the airport,
Airlines might off load passenger with similar symptoms of COVID -19 like flue, fever, respiratory problem and loss of taste,
Elderly people, pregnant woman and people with serious health problems are discouraged to fly,
Face masks are mandatory during the entire flight,
In-flight catering are closed in all domestic fights,
On board magazines and newspaper are not allowed and use of trolley in the airport are discouraged,
Domestic animals are not allowed inside the planes.
Nepal government wishes all the concerning offices to facilitate for normalizing the situation and seek the kind cooperation from all the authorities and concerning offices for betterment and recovery of the tourism soon.
