"To lengthen the stay of the tourists, the existing tourism products aren't enough"
Manohar SJB Rana, CEO, Yeti Travels, one of the top-notch travel trade companies of the country, shares his views on the ongoing resurgence in the country's tourism industry. Excerpts from an interview:
Who or what should be given credit for the current recovery in Nepal's tourism industry?
The downtrend of the past was due mainly to the political reasons, more specifically, due to frequent bandhs, transport strikes and so on. Many pointed their fingers at the Maoist problem as the only cause behind the decrease in the number of tourist arrivals in the past. But I don't agree. During the initial period of insurgency, the Maoists had put it on their website that they welcome tourists in Nepal and that they should only avoid areas where there are confrontations. We also requested our principals abroad to have a look at that website.
The foreign tourists are now finding a remarkable improvement in the political situation in Nepal. Comparatively there are less bandhs in the popular tourist areas these days.
When Nepal was opened up as a new destination for the tourists, Indian and Thai travel agencies had been selling package tours to Nepal as an extension. Both countries had their tourist offices in most of the major tourist generating markets. Both countries had regular international visitors coming to them for a long stay. These countries had spent a lot of money in marketing. But Nepal as a developing country having multiple problems was not in a position to invest heavily in marketing. So the Nepali tour operators did not have an easy reach to the quality tourists like their counterparts in India and Thailand had. Hence, Nepal's tour package used to be sold for a short stay only.
Later on, when Nepali tour operators also began marketing abroad, the tourists started visiting Nepal for a longer stay. Tourists visiting Nepal for short duration, unfortunately, could not complete their programmes when the practice of calling bandhs even for consecutive two or more days. Initially, they didn't make such bandhs as an important issue as they thought it can happen sometimes. But later on when such strikes were very frequent, most of the tour operators decided not to operate tours for Nepal until there was political stability in the country. Some of them took Nepal completely out from their brochures.
But now they are operating tours on our request after we convinced them that we are heading towards peace and stability. But they have not yet started operating tours on a permanent basis. So, in my opinion, strikes and Nepal bandhs have badly eaten up our tourism sector. People came here for holiday and returned disappointed with unpleasant experiences and upon returning home they explained their friends whatever they experienced here. Such negative publicity tarnished our image.
During the Visit Nepal 1998, we had raised this issue. Then we said if we did not free tourism from strikes and bandhs, our efforts would not be able to achieve our noble objective of bringing in half a million tourists. Then various meetings were organized at the Ministry of Tourism. Interactions were held with the political leaders. Then they were very supportive of the idea. But despite being convinced, the strikes and bandhs did not spare the tourists. We are still facing the same situation in general. However, we must be thankful to the political parties and organisations which allowed tourist movements during the bandhs they had called on.
Now many tour operators are ready to put back Nepal in their brochure for 2009. We are looking forward to the peaceful election to the constituent assembly which hopefully will establish lasting peace in Nepal.
Now that about half a million tourists came in Nepal in 2007, what are the major challenges now?
We all must be happy that half a million tourists visited Nepal in 2007. But again we are concerned about the same routine of strikes and bandhs. Now it is high time everyone were serious about it. We should not only be talking about the number of tourists coming to Nepal, we should also be talking about how much the country is earning from the tourists. We have been requesting Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and Government of Nepal that we should have satellite accounting system for measuring the benefits. We should be happy only with an increase in quality tourists who spend fairly good amount of money.
Then what should be the strategy now?
Tour operators of different countries who are sending tourists to Nepal should be convinced that a lasting peace is being established in Nepal. Now the whole world is watching what is happening in the Terai. Media has made it possible for them. They are already cautious that they should avoid certain areas. Since the disturbance is now centred only in the Terai, they are keeping quiet. But they are watching carefully what is going to happen next. Therefore, it will be difficult for us to convince them that there is complete stability here. Hopefully, there will be election to the Constitution Assembly and a new government will be formed. Only after that they will be sure of the stability. We have to convince the tour operator that stability and peace will be insured. This will be the only valid point that will encourage them to send tourists to Nepal.
Tourists did not stop visiting other war-affected countries like Sri Lanka. But they immediately stop coming here when there is a minor disturbance. How can that be explained?
Sri Lankans are much ahead of us in tourism. They are very service-oriented. Their know-how in crisis management is superb. They have excellent infrastructure as required for development of tourism. As they have their marketing offices in most of the major tourist generating countries, they can inform and convince the markets better if anything happens in Sri Lanka. For example, the devastating bomb explosion in the Colombo airport was talked about only for a few days. They were very efficient in handling that crisis. After that airport disaster, they spent a lot of money in convincing the market. Sri Lanka's tourism marketing was so extensive that they used top TV channels like National Geography, CNN and BBC. We don't have fund to go that way.
Then why did not the tourist arrival drop to zero in Nepal even during the period of the worst violence?
In the past we used to have more tourists for trekking, rafting and other adventure activities. Such tourists have more risk bearing capacity. They were not afraid of facing problems if they occurred. At that time we had more adventure tourists than the cultural tourists.
What should the government, NTB and travel trade do to sustain the recent growth in tourism?
The government should ensure stability. Ours is a political problem. It happens also in other developing countries. For the sake of tourism, it would be better if the political parties agreed on some common policies and declare tourism a national industry. Even if there are bandhs in the future, the tourists should be allowed to move around the country without any problem. If the government assures this, it will be extremely helpful. Then NTB and private sector in tourism can advertise such messages to the outer world that we are heading towards stability and even if there will be strikes and demonstrations sometimes, the tourists' programme will not be affected. Once they are convinced they will programme Nepal accordingly with full confidence.
What are the challenges other than strikes and bandhs?
We have to develop infrastructures. The Tribhuvan International Airport is already very congested. Facilities are not enough at the airport and we have requested the airport authorities for improvement in that area. Yes, compared to the past, there have been improvements. The officials are more disciplined and attentive to the tourists. Toilets are better. But they are not sufficient. Still, a number of facilities have to be increased or improved to bring it up to the satisfactory standard. For example, the security situation needs some improvement, first aid facility has to be upgraded, lightings have to be improved, the number of trolleys has to be increased, more help-desks have to be added and more x-ray machines are to be deployed. People are not allowed to enter the departure terminal for security reasons. That is fine. But there is no reason why the travel agents can't be allowed to enter there to help the tourists in the check-in formalities as they were allowed before. The tourists feel that instead of providing more services to them, we are trying to control them more. Since tourism is a service industry, we should be more serious in providing better services.
It is said that at the root of the political conflict in Nepal is the unequal sharing of economic benefit. What can be done to make tourism as a vehicle to narrow this inequality?
For that we should create proper infrastructures. Tourists go only to those places where there are attractions as well as infrastructure. If there is only attraction but no proper infrastructure, the tourist will hesitate to go there. There are lots of areas which can be developed and promoted as tourist destination, but they lack infrastructure. When the tourists start going there, the local people will automatically benefit.
Although the total tourists visiting Nepal increased in 2007, Indian market segment did not perform as expected. What may be the reasons?
Economy of India is booming. People have a lot of money to spend. The government has relaxed currency control. Therefore, the Indian people can afford to go to places like Mauritius, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore or even UK and USA. If the people are travelling for holiday, they want to have a carefree holiday. Also the people, who think Nepal as good place to visit, prefer Europe and USA over Nepal. They think that Nepal is so close to India that they can visit it at anytime.
What can Nepal do to attract the high spending, luxury seeking Indian tourists to Nepal?
It is common that people would like to visit the place where there are better quality services and where they are better welcomed. We have to realize that there have been comments time and again that there is discrimination against the Indian tourists here. There should not be any discrimination in service. All tourists should get the best services. Since most of the Indian tourists are very religious minded, we can promote religious tourism for them. That requires us to do a lot for keeping our religious and cultural sites neat and clean so that the people enjoy visiting there. But the present condition in many of these sites is very poor. Moreover, such places should be easily accessible. Places like Muktinath and other holy temples should also be promoted more aggressively.
Do you think our existing products and activities are enough to increase tourist inflow?
We have introduced some products recently. Now we hear about discovery of ancient caves where people used to live in the past. If such places are made easily accessible then these could attract more tourists. May be it can be slightly expensive to go there than going to Pokhara and Chitwan, but tourists love to be in such places. Nepal is abundant in many natural products which can be developed into tourist destinations. But again the infrastructure is the constraint. If we have to lengthen the duration of stay, the existing tourism products won't be enough.
It is said that Nepal's distinct products are sold at a low price compared to the quality. How can Nepali tourism industry use this recovery phase to bring the prices at par with the quality?
We were selling at lower rate to attract the tourists. There was less demand due to our internal problems. But while selling at an economical rate, the desired benefits were not achieved. In view of inflation, we are compelled to increase the rates. But, at the same time, we should be very careful and calculative so as not to discourage the visitors. First, we should maintain full stability. Then there will be more and more demand to justify good increase in rates. However, if we offer quality and convince the tourists that we are providing good value for their money, we can increase the rates accordingly. Drastic increase in the rates will make it difficult for the agents to sell.
In India, hotel rooms are not available for less than $300. Why not the same here?
In India, many multinational companies are already in operation and many new ones are coming in. Therefore, the hotels are absolutely full with corporate clients. And the demand from such segment is increasing. Moreover, in India, there is perfect political stability and people are very service oriented. Every tourism minister in any state of India is very aggressive in promoting tourism. They want to see tourist arrivals increasing and they are very helpful and positive and capable in solving problems in tourism. Similar is the culture in Sri Lanka. We should also be able to perform like them.
There was some sort of debate recently between hotels and travel agents about the unilateral increase of room charges. What is the problem?
We travel agents sign the contract with hotels with certain rates. Then we send the rates to our foreign agents and they print that on their brochures. Those foreign countries have strict consumer laws and in case the consumer is asked to pay higher amount than what is mentioned in the brochure, the consumer can go to the court. We have to honour the contracted rate. We can't say that our contract is no more valid and our rate has increased. It is not a good practice in our profession. As our hotel industry is aware of such rules, we are sure they will find an amicable solution to this problem.
Hoteliers say they virtually had to surrender about the price in the past due to the political instability and that the travel agents had cornered the hoteliers to sign the suicidal contract. What is your comment?
We tour operators can't force the hotels to sell the hotel room at certain rate if they are not willing. In future, it will be better if the tour operators and hoteliers meet and share their views and decide an appropriate rate with mutual understanding .
What is your comment on the international marketing strategies of the different tourism sub-sector players?
We are participating in international trade fairs. Our travel agents are going and meeting foreign travel agents in their offices. NTB, PATA Nepal Chapter, NATO, NATTA etc. are also organizing various road shows in different countries. NTB has been inviting journalists, travel writers and travel agents to Nepal for tourism promotion.
They all are doing their best with the limited budget they have. It would be great if we could advertise in international TV channels like National Geography, BBC and CNN. If we have to increase tourist arrival we have to spend more money in improving our infrastructure and marketing.
Would you like to make any comment on our national flag carrier?
We are all the time worried to rescue the national flag carrier and develop it. Unless and until our national flag carrier is equipped with more aircrafts, we can't expect tourism to increase. People feel comfortable to visit the country in its own national flag carrier. Most of the carriers coming here are catering to the labour market. There were some businesses cancelled due to unavailability of air seat.
