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Kathmandu Monday December 31, 2001 Paush 16, 2058.
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Happy with bale-out packages,
tourism industry asks for more
By Satyendra Timilsina
KATHMANDU, Dec 30 – While a number of
measures have been taken lately to revive the tourism industry, the entrepreneurs are
still hoping for some more on the same lines, especially in the rafting sector.
Not only has the government simplified the visa
regime, and scrapped restrictions on trekking in six districts, it has also thrown open
over 100 virgin peaks for mountaineering.
But the rafting lot has been left out, and it is
being hoped that soon the government will make an announcement that will boost the rafting
industry.
"We are eagerly awaiting the government to
make an announcement in this regard," said Kumar Ranabhat, President of Nepal
Association of Rafting Agents (NARA).
Government officials say that homework is on to
open new rafting routes in the country. This comes almost two years after NARA submitted a
report to the government suggesting the opening of eight new rivers for rafting. These
rivers are--Upper Seti, Karnali, Upper Bheri, Rapti, Seti Gandaki, Budhi Gandaki, Dudh
Koshi and Tamor.
Now the possibility of the government allowing
rafting in the rivers proposed by NARA, seems to be high. "The government is
considering to open some rivers for rafting in the second phase of announcements,"
said Ganesh Raj Karki, Under Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil
Aviation. "Currently we are preparing the rafting code of conduct," said Karki.
"The announcement on the rules and regulations is likely to be made next week."
The case for more Nepali rivers for rafting is a
strong one. "Nepali rivers have immense potential for rafting tourism. For example,
Tamor the river in the eastern region, is one of the most attractive for high water
rafting," says Megh Ale, Chairman of Nepal River Conservation Trust (NRCT).
Ale says that rafting ought to be permitted in
more rivers because many of the known rafting rivers are now running almost dry. The
construction of water reserves at many places has prevented the perennial water flow
downstream, making rafting impossible.
Some compare Nepali rivers’ rafting
potential to that other much-touted wealth-- hydropower. And in both cases, things have
not moved on.
"The government must open new and
challenging rivers. Nepal is known for adventure tourism. However, rafting here does not
fall among the best in the world. It is high time that the government takes a decision to
promote Nepal as a rafting destination," says Sharad Pradhan, a member of Nepal
Association of Tour Operators (NATO).
The Nepali tourism industry has been on a
continuous slide for the past two years since the hijacking of a New Delhi-bound Indian
Airlines flight from Kathmandu in late 1999. A series of mis-happenings followed,
including the ten per cent service charge row, the anti-Hrithik demonstration, the Royal
massacre, the continuing Maoist insurgency, the terror strikes in the United States, and
the present state of emergency.
For the industry to make a good comeback, it is
important now for it to create new "tourism instruments". This becomes
especially important in the coming year which will be observed as Destination Nepal Year
and the International Year of Mountains. And new avenues are all the more important for an
industry that is one of the prime foreign currency earners and which contributes almost 3
per cent to the Gross Domestic Product.
The government’s latest moves to help the
tourism industry out in its time of crisis, have obviously been welcomed by the
entrepreneurs. But they are also asking for more. Says one, "The government has done
a lot lately to enliven the sinking tourism sector. A lot of encouraging announcements
have been made, yet yeh dil maange more (this heart asks for more)."
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