As I began writing this a week into the Rasuwa-Bhote Koshi floods in Nepal, I kept thinking about two things that can be true at exactly the same time. First, that the devastation is enormous; and second, that Nepal is responding, with more than 12,000 people already rescued.
Seven days after the disaster, an American traveller was pulled alive from the rubble. Then two days later, a pair of hydropower workers were rescued from a tunnel buried by debris. Two further survivors were recovered in separate locations the day after that; another hydropower worker and a local woman, stranded in a destroyed house. 10 days after the flooding. Those rescues perhaps explain why the people on the ground still call this a search and rescue operation. They have not given up hope, and neither should we.
Then come the numbers that are much harder to process. TAAN reports 995 international travellers still missing. 21 Nepali travellers. 118 guides and porters. Hotels swept away. Tourism vehicles gone. Entire communities along the Bhote Koshi and Upper Trishuli corridor devastated.
For those of us in tourism, these are not simply statistics. Guides and porters are our colleagues. Hotels belong to people we know. The people travelling through these valleys came here because they trusted Nepal and our tourism industry to look after them. That responsibility weighs heavily.
But there is another part of this story that I think we need to communicate properly. This enormous disaster happened along one narrow river corridor. It did not happen across Nepal. Most of the country continues to function normally.
And I am increasingly convinced that saying this does not diminish the tragedy.
Good crisis communication has to be able to hold both truths. We should never hide the scale of a disaster because we are worried about tourism. But neither should we allow the world to believe that an entire country has been devastated when that simply isn’t the situation.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing I see right now is Nepal itself. Government. Security forces. Communities. Businesses. Tourism professionals. Volunteers. People donating money. People sending supplies. People bringing drones, technology, medical skills, logistics, vehicles – whatever they have.
And messages keep coming from around the world asking, how can we help? There is something deeply reassuring about knowing that when Nepal hurts, people far beyond our borders feel it too.
There will be plenty of time to ask difficult questions. There will be lessons to learn. There will be an enormous amount to restore.
But right now there are still people searching, people rescuing, and people helping. An entire country is coming together behind one devastated river corridor. Nepal is responding.
And eventually, as we always have, we will rebuild.
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Current Travel Information
Nepal is coping with a major disaster that happened only very recently. Images have been travelling fast around the world, but context was not always travelling with them. The devastation along the Bhote Koshi and Upper Trishuli river corridor is immense – there should be no understating that.
But we needed to get out the message: The disaster is concentrated largely along one river corridor. Nepal is responding with all seriousness. And most of the rest of Nepal remains open.
We needed a place where that message, and regular factual updates, could be easily found. So we got together and worked on NepalNOW.travel.
It is not about saying everything is fine. It clearly isn’t. It is about giving context. Being transparent about what has happened, sharing what is happening on the ground, and helping travellers and the global travel industry understand the situation as it actually is.
Right now, rescue, relief and recovery must remain the absolute priority in the affected areas. At the same time, Nepal is a large and incredibly diverse destination. Most tourism areas remain accessible, communities continue with their lives, and the country remains open.
There is more work to do on NepalNOW, and we will keep improving it. But in a swift response to the unimaginable, a need was identified. People brought their skills together, and nobody waited for perfection. And within a day, something useful was live.
For now, this new resource is available, with updates about the situation on the ground from the people there, those who know precisely what’s happening.
And while Nepal has had a major disaster, we are responding. And most of Nepal remains open.
