TOURISM
On Revival Path
A year after the cessation of Maoist conflict and restoration of democracy, tourism sector is beginning to experience growth in the number of tourist arrival. Flights in and out of the country are almost packed and the occupancy rates of hotels, too, have increased. However, many tourism entrepreneurs feel that the country has not been able to lure quality tourists as much as it should have. While the arrival of Free and Individual Travelers (FIT) has surged, the arrival of high-end organized groups has not been as expected. The incessant bandhs, sporadic violence and instability have not helped in generating tourists. Likewise, the lack of product development has held back the growth of tourism.
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
According to the recent report by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the number of tourists coming to Nepal in the month of May increased by 50 percent compared with the same month previous year.
 |
Ethnic culture of highland : Can become new touristattraction |
In fact, the number of tourist arrival has been increasing in a sustained manner in the last couple of months. In February, March and April, the tourist arrival increased by 62, 33 and 78 percent respectively.
A total of 27,759 visitors entered Nepal during May. "Indian market showed a healthy growth of over 27.9 percent for this month compared to last year's May. Statistics also shows a remarkable growth in the non-Indian sector," states a press release by the NTB. Around 12,558 Indians visited the country in May.
In May, European arrivals scored one-third market share, with encouraging growth from major generating markets like UK (86.3 percent), France (94.6 percent) and Germany (48.4 percent). The Australian and USA market too, increased by 30.9 percent and 71.1 percent respectively.
"Despite the increased demand for Nepal as a preferred destination, the shortage of air seats to Nepal continues to hamper further growth. The industry sources say many groups have not given up complaining about air seats availability," states NTB.
Reports say that in the first five months of 2007, a total of 143,630 visitors traveled to Nepal – which is higher by 43 percent compared to the same period last year.
In the last one year, Nepal's image tarnished by the decade long violent conflict has been gradually improving. Many western countries withdrew their strict travel advisories.
However, in the subsequent months, Nepal has been faltering in the peace process. Particularly, the intense Madhes agitation in southern plains since early this year has damaged the image of the country and some countries like the US have once again imposed travel advisory.
The fact that there is a perennial instability and difficult transition going on in the country has also worked against tourism prospects. But hopes are still high that Nepal will steer towards peaceful, democratic and prosperous set up.
If Nepal is to successfully reach to that destination, development of its economy is going to be fundamental pre-requisite. And tourism being one of the basic element of Nepali economy where it has comparative advantages, its progress and development will pave the way for building new Nepal.
Mixed Picture
 |
ATourist : Positivem Busy in amendment |
Even as the number of tourist arrival shows impressive picture, many tourism entrepreneurs are not too satisfied.
"Yes, there has been increase in number of tourists visiting the country. This can be seen by crowded flights, and higher occupancy of hotels, but the majority of the tourists are backpackers who do not add substantially to our income," said Bishnu Prasai, a tourism entrepreneur and a director at Nataraj Travels.
Prasai said that the country is not able to lure big groups with tourists who are willing to spend a lot. "However, there definitely has been a rise in number of Indian tourists who also spend a lot," he said.
According to Prasai, there is a growing trend of individual tourists coming lured by cheaper rates.
The increased arrival of backpackers is not at all bad news though. The category of Free and Individual Travelers who make for over 50 percent of the total incoming tourists has been keeping the tourism sector afloat even during the times of conflict. More importantly, it is the individual travelers who inject the much-needed money into the local grass-root level and directly into the hands of people.
What is not good news is the inability of the country to attract more high-end travelers who come in organized groups and spend a lot.
According to prominent hotelier Yogendra Shakya, the failure to attract such travelers lies squarely on domestic authorities and entrepreneurs.
"In fact, what we see is that the same bunch of tourists who are willing to pay Rs 15,000 per night in a five star hotel in India, pay only Rs 1500 here. We should be blamed for this situation," Shakya said.
He said that because of increase in tourists, the average occupancy rate of hotels in the country in recent months have risen to around 35 percent. "You must not forget here that even during the year of 1999 –when half a million tourists visited Nepal – the occupancy rate of hotels had not increased beyond 40 percent. We, in fact, need 1.2 million tourists to acquire 100 percent occupancy," said Shakya.
Interestingly, according to Shakya, as many as 75 percent of visitors staying in big hotels these days comprise of conflict managers, aid workers and development experts.
"They are the long-term visitors and include conflict management workers, aid workers, human rights workers, UN and embassy staffs," said Shakya.
The constant bandhs are a big headache for tourism entrepreneurs. "The bandhs that are announced suddenly and bandhs that run into days have hurt us. In fact, there is not a single day that passes without some incident in some section of highways," said an entrepreneur.
Besides, as Shakya puts it, there is also a need to go for product development. "It is very difficult to substantially increase the number of tourists if we only focus on niche markets. We can attract big number of tourists only if we are able to attract families for vacation and for this, we need to develop our products accordingly," he said.
Along with product development, Nepal also needs to focus on infrastructure development including enhancement of air seat capacity. The only national flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is in dire straits as it only has two functioning Boeing jets. The addition of new flights like Korean Air, South China airlines, Bangladesh's GMG airlines have helped resolve this problem to a certain extent. But they cannot be an alternative to a strong national carrier.
As the country meanders through the transitional phase, the potentials of tourism could be realized only when there is enough room to hope for stability.
