Tracking tourists

The Department of Immigration Tuesday announced a new mobile online system to track foreigners in Nepal from visa application, movement within the country, hotels and departure. The Nepali Post Traveller Tracking Module is supposedly to make the visa application system less cumbersome, and ensure security, safety and rescue if needed. However critics on social media said the procedure to get a QR code seemed too complicated, and raised questions about privacy and surveillance.

 Meanwhile, there was a 22% increase in tourists entering Nepal in August compared to July with 88,680. Most were from India, followed by Chinese and US nationals. Since January-August, 736,562 tourists visiting, which means Nepal may be on track to cross 1 million tourists in 2025.