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Last week, a group of foreign tourists visited the Park Safari Hotel in Sauraha. 

Hotel owners in the area say they are rejoiced to see foreigners return to Sauraha after a long time. Tourist arrivals had almost stopped for two consecutive years. 

The group, which comprised around 20 tourists from South Asian and European countries, brough given some rays of hope to the Covid-19-affected local businesses, they say. 

“Amid the doom and gloom in the tourism business, we see the return of tourists as a positive step,” says Mahesh Khanal, manager at Park Safari.

When Nepal went into lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism, the mainstay of the town located close to the Chitwan National Park, was severely affected. While hundreds of hotels and resorts shut, thousands were left unemployed facing an uncertain future as the pandemic’s effects spread across the world. 

But with the vaccination drive picking up and infection rates going down across the country, tourism entrepreneurs in the area hope more tourists will come to Nepal and eventually to Sauraha, where domestic tourists have kept some businesses afloat during the weekends.

Other than the weekends, Sauraha, home to 160 hotels and resorts, these days is virtually silent. This silence continues to hurt businesses.

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Damodar Regmi, manager of Hotel Nature Heritage, says he is hopeful things will start getting back to normal soon. "I think the market will pick up again.”

The recent government decision to issue on-arrival visas to foreign tourists has also rekindled hope among local businessmen. Shyam Mahat, manager of Hotel Central Park says, “The decision to issue on-arrival visas will help tourism, and it will make things easier for all.”

But flying in to Nepal is still expensive compared to the pre-covid days. There are fewer flights connecting Nepal to the rest of the world and airfares are almost twice as expensive as in the past. 

Suman Ghimire, former president of the hotel association’s Chitwan chapter, said that it would be easier for foreign tourists to come to Nepal only if airfares are slashed. "When the number of flights increases, only can the tourism business prosper," he adds.

“In the last fiscal year, 92,209 people visited Chitwan National Park, out of which 1,364 were from SAARC nations. Of the 178 tourists who visited in July and August, 98 were from SAARC countries,” says Lokendra Adhikari, information officer of the park.

Nepal SBI Bank employees have accused the bank of misappropriating their funds in the name of social security.

The bank enrolled its employees with the Social Security Fund without their consent and deposited money in their name without their knowledge, an employee told ApEx requesting anonymity.

The bank pressed ahead with its decision to participate in the fund’s programs during the last month of previous fiscal year even as a petition filed by employees of various banks remains sub-judice.

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After the Supreme Court issued a stay on the case, the bank had agreed to refund the employees, but it didn’t do so, employees say.

Before the government rolled out the SSF, Nepal SBI employees participated in the Employees’ Provident Fund. But the bank has also stopped sending money to the fund.

The employees’ union has levelled other charges against the bank management as well. It has accused the bank of not maintaining accurate records of money sent to the Employees’ Provident Fund, not transferring employees working in rural areas to urban areas for a long time and cutting down on different perks to employees.

Yeti Airlines, one of Nepal’s leading airline companies, has completed 23 years of service. The company, which began operations on 21 September 1998, has been focussing on connecting remote mountainous regions of the country to the urban centres.

Yeti has played an important role of delivering food, medicines and clothing to residents of areas not connected by road.

“The airlines prioritizes appropriate ticket prices, hassle-free travel arrangements and quality services to customers,” says company spokesperson Sudarshan Bartaula.

The airline is also Nepal’s one and only carbon neutral airline. The airline now has five ATR planes which fly to Nepaganj, Bhadrapur, Janakpur, Pokhara, Simara, Bhairahawa and Biratnagar. 

Its sister company Tara Air has four Twin Otter planes that fly to Lukla, Phaplu, Jumla, Rara, Dolpa and Bajura, among others.

Chinese car manufacturer Changan Auto is opening a showroom in Kathmandu. One of the fastest growing auto companies, Changan already has its footprint in over 60 countries. 

The showroom will be located at the heart of the city and will have ample parking space, the company said in a statement. The company claims that the showroom will redefine the customers’ in-store experience. 

Changan is considered to be one of the "Big Four" Chinese automakers. In 2016, it manufactured 3 million units to rank fourth among China's automakers by production volume.

Changan designs, develops, manufactures, and sells passenger cars sold under the Changan brand and commercial vehicles. It operates joint ventures with Ford (Changan Ford), and Mazda (Changan Mazda) which respectively produce Ford and Mazda branded passenger cars for the Chinese market. It also has a joint venture with Jiangling Motors Corporation Group (JMCG) and Aiways, which produces SUVs sold under the Landwind brand.