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The Nepali government on Sunday announced a number of measures to revive the tourism industry battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, including a plan to declare the years between 2023 and 2033 as Visit Nepal Decade, Xinhua reported.

Unveiling the Tourism Rehabilitation Action Plan, Jeevan Ram Shrestha, Nepal’s minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation, said the government is breaking the tradition of announcing a single year as Visit Nepal Year so as to run a sustained campaign to promote tourism, a major foreign exchange earner and job creator for the country.

As per the action plan, the Visit Nepal Decade is expected to come out within the next three months.

The government plans to attract 1 million foreign tourists in the 2022-23 fiscal year which began in mid-July. “We have not yet set any target for the planned Visit Nepal Decade. We have to do further homework and consultations with the stakeholders,” Hom Prasad Luitel, joint secretary at the tourism ministry, told Xinhua.

Nepal received 1.19 million foreign visitors in 2019 and sought to attract 2 million in 2020 when Visit Nepal 2020 was launched, but COVID-19 forced the government to call off the campaign. As the pandemic persisted, the tourism sector fared poorly in 2020 and 2021.

Nepal was reporting more foreign visitor arrivals in 2022 as fewer people were infected. As of June, there were 237,670 foreigners visiting the South Asian country, according to the tourism ministry.

Under the new action plan, Nepal will launch promotion campaigns in China, India and Bangladesh, of them the former two being the largest sources of tourists for Nepal in normal years.

There is a plan as well to promote Nepal as a destination for meetings, conferences and exhibitions and spiritual tourism with packages of yoga, wellness and spa to be offered.

In addition, the ministry is mulling over retirement visas and healthcare facilities for elderly foreigners to stay longer in Nepal. Currently, there is no legal provision of issuing retirement visas in the country. “We will discuss it with the Ministry of Home Affairs which is responsible for visa issuance,” said Luitel, Xinhua reported.

As mountaineering is a key part of Nepal’s tourism, the country is planning to open more Himalayan peaks.
Under the action plan, more peaks at 5,800 to 8,000 meters above the sea level will be opened for mountaineering. According to authorities, Nepal has so far opened 414 peaks above 5,700 meters for climbing.

Included in the action plan are other measures like cooperation and coordination with international airlines, GPS tracking system to make trekking and mountaineering safer, multi-lingual helpline support centers for tourists and many more facilities for foreigners who come to Nepal for movie shootings, according to Xinhua.

Three members of a single family died when a landslide triggered by torrential rainfall buried a house at Bhulu in Turmakhand Rural Municipality-2 of Achham in the wee hours of Monday.

The landslide buried the house of Amar Bista while they were sleeping at around 1 am today.

DSP Narayan Dangi of the District Police Office, Achham, the deceased have been identified as Amar Bista's brother Birendra Bista, son Sambidhan Bista and daughter-in-law Harikala Bista. His aunt Naina Bista was critically injured in the incident.

Police said that they are looking into the case.

A measurably significant earthquake was felt in Sindhuplachowk district on Monday.

According to the National Seismological Centre, Lainchaur, the earthquake was of local magnitude 4. 7 and was recorded at 6. 07 am. The epicentre was close to Ichok of Helambu, Sindhupalchowk.

The tremor was felt in the Kathmandu Valley as well.

At least 17 people from Haiti have died in a boat accident off the coast of The Bahamas, the government has said, BBC reported.

Bahamian PM Philip Davis said it is thought those on board were travelling from Haiti to Miami, Florida in the US.

Police in The Bahamas said the boat capsized more than 11 km (6.8 miles) off the island of New Providence. 

Another 25 people were rescued, including one woman who was found alive inside the overturned boat, authorities said.

One child was among the dead. At least one person is still missing, with search missions underway.

Two people were taken into custody, both from The Bahamas, over the suspected human smuggling operation, officials said.

The numbers of people attempting the dangerous journey to the United States have increased significantly with the rise in Haiti of gang violence, coupled with endemic poverty.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the speed boat left New Providence, the most populous island in The Bahamian archipelago, around 01:00 (0500 GMT) on Sunday with some 60 people on board, according to BBC.

One woman was found alive after police heard her "knocking on the hull of the boat", said Clayton Fernander, police commissioner of The Bahamas.

"The divers eventually went down and that's where they recovered the bodies, the 17 bodies," he said.

"There was one female who was still alive, was up in the air pocket of the hull of that boat, so I believe that that's what kept her alive."

Immigration Minister Keith Bell said survivors indicated that they paid between $3,000 and $8,000 (£2,500 and £6,670) for the voyage.

"We mourn lives lost of those seeking a better way of life," Mr Bell said. "Those here with families and friends in Haiti, encourage your loved ones not to risk their lives."

In May, at least 11 people, mostly from Haiti, died near the US territory of Puerto Rico, BBC reported.