Tourism Trails
The cover story “Tackling Poverty” (SPOTLIGHT May 4) gives a positive insight into how tourism can be used to tackle the national problem of poverty. It is a rewarding story that provides enough lessons that can be learned and applied elsewhere. There are thousands of reasons how tourism can help to promote socio-economic development of backward regions. The story provides establishes some of those reasons.
Kiran Bista
Sallaghari
Exploit Potentials
The backward and inaccessible regions of Nepal are filled with natural beauty. The untouched hills, virgin forests, wonderful biodiversity etc are found in those remote regions (“Tackling Poverty” SPOTLIGHT May 4). They can become a magnet to the tourists from all over the world. Plans like the ones formulated by the TRPAP can be applied to exploit their potentials for the benefit of the rural population. However, one must not forget that in order to ensure sustainability, these areas should not be subjected to haphazard tourism. A planned approach with enough respect to environmental and cultural sensibilities will reap rich dividends.
Hansa Rai
Dillibazaar
New Trekking Routes
It is important to open new trekking routes to attract trekkers from around the world (“Tackling Poverty” SPOTLIGHT May 4). Nepal’s prominent trekking routes like Everest, Langtang and Annapurna have attracted tens of thousands of tourists. In order to attract these tourists to visit the country again, the planners should identify newer routes and trails with enough lure. Then they should be marketed in a systematic manner. For tourism to survive and thrive in this age, marketing is going to be an essential tool. Without marketing, even best of places will not get the deserved attention. Therefore, we cannot simply sit idle and hope for tourists to amble along. We have to package our material and market them in a professional manner.
Bibas Gurung
Sitapaila
Adventure Tourism
As the cover story “Tackling Poverty” (SPOTLIGHT May 4) indicated, adventure tourism like mountain biking, rafting, can be developed in different places across the country. There are millions of adventure tourists around the world who travel millions of miles to experience the thrill. They travel long distance for white water rafting, mountain biking, trekking, bungy jumping and so on. Nepal has tremendous potential to attract such thrill-seekers. Its high mountains, rugged hills, deadly ravines, thick forests and tumultuous rivers provide ample opportunities to develop adventure tourism. The discipline of adventure tourism is very wide and comprehensive. It has millions of followers around the world. If harnessed properly, it can act as a powerful tool for word of mouth publicity of Nepal as well.
Jitendra Shrestha
Thamel
Mustang Magic
In recent days, wonderful news regarding the discovery of magical caves in Mustang have come to light. The discovery of ancient mural dating back to 13 th century, according to some experts, is wonderful news. The location of hundreds of caves and the findings of ancient mural will definitely contribute to enrich the disciplines of history, geography, prehistoric human settlement, anthropology and tourism. The Mustang caves can be a big attraction to tourists for their rich history and unique geography. The place should be promoted to bring in tourists. Mustang itself is a region known very well among the tourists. It has been drawing thousands of tourists. Still, there is a need to promote the place so that it can draw tens of thousands of tourists providing jobs and socio-economic opportunities to the people. The discovery of the caves should further enhance Mustang’s potentials.
Jeewan Gurung
Chhetrapati
Don’t PushCA
The article “Dangerous Deflection” (SPOTLIGHT May 4) points out to the disturbingly growing row between Nepali Congress and Maoists. These are the two parties whose roles are going to be extremely crucial in the coming days as the country prepares to pass through the historic test. The test will be done through the Constituent Assembly elections. So, the two parties must not squabble over any other issue and, instead, concentrate on the need to consolidate party unity at least till the CA is complete and the nation finds itself in a new path.
Kaushal Kumar Thapa
Koteshwore
