Tourism industry may face a substantial loss this season as the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu is not issuing visa for foreign visitors travelling through Nepal. “Nepal will lose more than 20,000 visitors heading to Tibet,” according to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).
Though the Chinese government opened Tibet Autonomous Region of China (TARC) for foreign visitors from July 1, an official at Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu said that they were yet to receive formal information from their government.
Because of its geographical proximity and easy availability of flights, foreign visitors to Tibet have been using Nepal as their transit point for years. The Kailash-Mansarovar area, Lhasa and Everest Base Camp from the Tibetan side are the major attractions for the foreign visitors in Tibet. Likewise, Nepali tour operators are also handling expeditions to Everest and other mountain peaks from the Tibetan side every year.