Kathmandu, Jan. 25 -- The availability of Covid-19 vaccines, a recent decrease in fatality rates in India and Nepal, and inquiries from travelers seeking to get out into the Himalayan wilderness, have raised hopes of a rebound in Nepal's tourism industry in 2021.

However, travel trade insiders say the numbers will only pick up if Nepal's tourism authorities are proactive about promoting Nepal as a safe destination, and if the byzantinerules for visasand quarantines are clarified and eased.

However, some of thatoptimism has been temperedby a new resurgence of the coronavirus in Europe and Southeast Asia, as well as sustained high levels of infection in the United States.

"We had a German group booked for an Annapurna Base Camp trek in F...