For the second time in recent years, a plane headed for Lukla crashed in the mountains, this time killing 3 crew members and 11 passengers, 6 of of them being foreign tourists. More on the previous disaster which happend in 2008 can be read here: Airplane crash on Everest route kills 18. Lukla is a popular jump-off point for the Everest trek and is one of the busiest airports in Nepal.

The pilot apparently reported generator failure en route to Lukla and decided to return, but the backup generator also later failed. Without cockpit avionics the plane would be flying blind in rugged terrain and heavy rain. The cause of the crash would seem to be a combindation of technical failure and bad weather.

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In addition to turbulent political and civil unrest, the expansion of Nepal’s road network has brought about much change to this small country perched on the world’s highest mountain range.

An ambitious campaign, NTY 2011 (Nepal Tourism Year 2011), aims to see one million tourist arrivals in 2011, in addition to developing the necessary tourism infrastructure. The announcement was made by the Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation on January 25, 2009.

The newly declared republic of Nepal continued on a historic journey of change as the country’s first ever president was sworn in on July 23rd.

To most people’s surprise, the Maoists won the Constituent Assembly elections, and that by quite a big margin. No doubt this is a major event in the history of Nepal, the implications of which are still unfolding. The country of Nepal has once again shown its remarkable ability to bounce back from tense situations. The mood is generally peaceful and optimistic, one which the tourism industry will undoubtedly benefit from.  In this atmosphere of change we hope that the long term changes will be beneficial for all.