CRI听力:Earthquake Deals Hard Blow to Nepal's Tourism

Nepalese authorities are expressing both concern and hope about one of the country's major economic drivers: tourism.

It's estimated the country is going to lose hundreds of millions of dollars this year in tourism revenues.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, says the situation is serious, particularly for mountain communities hardest hit by the disaster.

"The houses are rebuilt with mud and stone. Ninety-five percent of the houses are either totally collapsed or partially collapsed, and it is no more possible to stay in such houses. So the impact is huge."

To try to counter this, Tulasi Prasad Gautam, director general of Nepal Tourism Department, is appealing to people who have already been to Nepal to return.

"You can come and enjoy and you'll have a different experience than you had in the past. Because you will be a part of the disaster affected people, and you are going to help aid the people in Nepal, they are badly affected."

The services sector in Nepal makes up around 45-percent of the country's GDP.

Many in the service sector in Nepal are employed, in part, through tourism.