Major political parties in Nepal gearing up for the upcoming Parliamentary election on March 5 are concerned about the country’s dwindling tourist numbers post-Covid. Despite welcoming just over 1 million tourists annually in recent years, Nepal has yet to reach its pre-pandemic visitor levels from 2019. Issues such as plane crashes, inadequate highway infrastructure, and insufficient international promotion are cited as key obstacles by industry stakeholders, as reported by The Kathmandu Post.
Four prominent political parties have made tourism a focal point in their election manifestos, pledging significant changes to enhance the sector. These commitments include reforms in aviation safety, efforts to secure additional air routes with India, and ambitious goals to double tourist arrivals and spending within five years. The parties also aim to remove Nepal from the European Commission’s air safety list and expand international flights from the country’s two new international airports.
CPN-UML, led by former Prime Minister Oli, is prioritizing tourism infrastructure development, market promotion, air service expansion, enhanced security, and the exploration of new destinations to double tourist arrivals within five years, with a strong emphasis on prioritizing tourist safety. The Nepali Communist Party, under the leadership of Oli’s predecessor Pushpa Kamal Dahal, has promised technical reforms in Nepal Airlines and private carriers, along with legal measures to secure removal from the European Commission’s air safety list. Meanwhile, the Nepali Congress has highlighted wellness and spiritual tourism in its manifesto.
The newly-formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has committed to doubling both tourist numbers and their average spending within the next five years, proposing technical and policy reforms to achieve this goal. Recent data released by the Nepal Tourism Board in January indicated a 97% recovery in tourist arrivals compared to pre-Covid levels, with 1,158,459 visitors arriving by air between January and December 2025.
