The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Department of Tourism has so far issued expedition permit to 71 groups for climbing various mountains, including Mt Everest, in the spring season. Biden makes all adults eligible for a vaccine on April 19 Government issues 'Protocols to Manage Tourist Arrivals' as spring season begins in Nepal The department issued the permits to 626 climbers of 71 mountaineering expedition teams as of yesterday. Of them, a total of 338 mountaineers, including 84 females and 266 males of 36 teams, have received the permit to climb Mt Everest, the department's Mountaineering Section Officer Bhisma Raj Bhattarai said. Similarly, 11 expedition teams have got permission to climb Mt Lhotse and four teams each to climb Mt Annapurna and Mt Dhawalagiri respectively. Likewise, three groups have got permission to climb Mt Nuptse and one team each for ascending Mt Ama Dablam and Mt Makalu in the spring season, the department stated in a press release. An increasing number of expedition teams taking permits for climbing various peaks in this spring climbing season amidst the COVID-19 pandemic is an encouraging sign for mountaineering tourism. Tourism entrepreneurs are enthused, and they believe this attraction towards mountaineering will contribute to reviving the tourism sector which has been hit hard by the pandemic. A version of this article appears in the print on April 18, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.