Missing linkages to tap Japanese outbound

By SUMIT BARAL

Japanese are today among the world’s most sought-after travelers. With more than 15 million annual outgoing visitors, and ranked among the world’s top five spenders, the outgoing tourists from Japan have remained relatively unchanged over the last half years. It is high time marketers concentrated their efforts on tapping the market for a better result and increase their market shares. A better share of Japanese market can be obtained by focussing more on a shorter package tour; targeting the core segment of middle-aged population and also the elderly segment. It is even more essential to overcome the hindrances of language, security image and accessibility to Nepal.

Japan recorded 16.22 million outgoing visitors in 2001. It was a decrease by 9 percent, and this can be attributed to global recession and low exchange rates of the Japanese Yen. The year 2000 had marked an all-time record of 17.82 millions, and the outbound that time was spurred by a strong exchange rate and positive GDP. Although 2002 was expected to perform better as the political stability had ensured positive GDP and better exchange rate, the travel reluctance developed in the aftermath of 9/11 led to 19 percent decline from September 2001 to August 2002. There was a net decrease of 3.5 million outgoing Japanese tourists.

Of such a huge outbound and high spending behavior, many countries like the US have always enjoyed a large chunk of receipts, whereas Nepal has just been able to receive a quarter of a percent (0.25 percent) of the total arrival. Japan is Nepal’s third largest inbound market after India and the US, and is among the few markets that have shown a steady growth. The annual average growth in arrival has been 7 percent in the last 10 years. The biggest growth in arrival from Japan was observed in 1995 and 1997 with 2000 reaching the record high.

Nepal undoubtedly has best offers to match Japanese preferences. Our source of Japanese tourists comes from the segment of major travelling population between the age group of the 20s and 50s. In the same manner some major activities are being carried out by Japanese outbound like sightseeing (carried out by 60 percent of travelers), visiting places of historical and cultural importance (by 46 percent) etc. This gives a clear indication that there is a great potential of a good product market linkage between Japanese market preference and what Nepal has to offer. And it appears that there is a big reservoir of Japanese market for Nepal, which is yet to be explored further. But the question is and will be, despite this good match between the market and the products, why is it that we have not been able to realize the growth?

The underlying reasons are numerous. For example, accessibility. And by this, it is not simply the limited air seats and flights that need to be improved but also direct air linkage to Tokyo’s Narita airport be established. This is a must because Osaka, where Kathmandu is presently connected, has the lower departure ratio compared to Tokyo. And Narita caters to almost 50 percent of Japanese travelers and Osaka’s Kansai to 25 percent. Overall, the departure ratio (Travel/population) from Japan is increasing except in the present crisis period, but owing to their low departure ratio compared to other nationalities and despite having one of the best GDPs in the world, Japanese outbound has a huge chance of expansion.

If you look into the Japanese outbound activity gourmet, sampling forms one of the major sources of attraction (almost 35 percent). Evolving towards gourmet market is not only filling the missing link for the set of Japanese attractions but also creating a fresh market segment to Nepal. But on the other hand, it would not be a very prudent decision to keep on trying to stick to adventure segment only. This is because the very base of this segment is quite low, as 3.3 percent of Japanese outbound is attracted towards mountaineering/trekking and this segment is being relatively stagnant over the years.

The marketing approach that we have adopted so far needs a review as well. We have always missed one of the strongest tools to reach the wider audience of Japanese market. Pamphlet, which is the biggest tool to influence Japanese travel motivation, has not been popularly used in our marketing attempts. Undoubtedly, family, friends, TV, radio and newspapers are other influential factors. The use of travel firms is equally popular for reservations as nearly half the tourists visit travel firms to organise their trips, which has also increased the participation in package tours to more than 50 percent.

Cost-wise, Nepal is not an expensive destination for an average Japanese traveler. Surveys show it costs around 2000 US dollars for an average trip to Nepal. This is still less compared to average expenditure per person per overseas trip, which is around 2,500 US dollars. So there is not much revision needed on the pricing side of the market. However, it is still essential to retain the cherished Nepalese hospitality as Japanese visiting Nepal single out its friendly people and cultural attractions.

Few other areas where Nepal needs to improve in tapping the market is in addressing its law and order problem. Security concern has now been a prime concern of Japanese travelers. It is important to convey the audience proper information about the condition in Nepal that no untoward incidents have happened with tourists, despite the Maoist insurgency. Since the compensation fee for loss of life on a package tour is high in Japan, travel agents try to avoid unsafe destination. On the other hand, language has always been a hindrance for Japanese traveling abroad. Therefore, extensive information in Japanese language should be disseminated either through websites or printed brochures.

It is important that marketing and promotion attempts should be carried out for both long and short terms. The target should be the younger segment. This is to create brand loyalty for future. Cultural exchange programmes can be a cost-effective way of tapping the younger population. For a short term, the target market should be aged market, which is emerging as a new segment from Japan. And this is also a market immune from volatility in economy. Tapping this market does not only lead to immediate return but also acts as a safe cushion. And lastly, owing to a rise in shorter trips and decline in longer trips, it is advisable to develop similar packages lasting about a week or so.

Female tag

By PRIYA SHAH KHADKA

Is it a crime being born a female? At least, it seems so in our very conservative society. I sometimes wonder: "Lady you are lucky to have been born on this side of Nepal", meaning the capital city of Kathmandu. But is being born in the capital city makes the female gender anywhere close to the rights and equalities that are being relished by the males of our society? When females in Kathmandu, who consider themselves well educated and liberal, and out for reforming the system where male members are looked up as god, are seen being knowingly or unknowingly dominated and compromising on so many norms of this society, you can imagine the very deplorable life led by our fellow sisters in the remote and rural areas of our country.

Our society is so much affected and influenced by the patriarchal norms and values further promoting all kinds of maltreatment, prejudice and injustice against women and girls, right from the time they are born till the day they die. This so-called precious norms and values which are required to be preserved, sustained and hung on to dear life has further resulted in brutality, sadism, viciousness and cruelty against women who account for more than fifty percent of the country’s total population. Discrimination against female gender is not uncommon across all strata of our society, and girls and women of all ages are found to be subjected to various kinds of physical, mental, sexual and psychological abuses both at home and in society, in general.

Everyone says that educating our sisters is the best way to get rid of this kind of torment and ordeal, but I ask myself, is that so? Forget the uneducated, even educated families are not free from taboos. Do you know why I say this? It is because when a girl is born, even an educated person laments over her birth. Even if the dejection is not portrayed outrightly, any uneducated fool can see it, depicted on the facial expression and attitude of her family members.

Many organizations have come forward doing their level best to fight against discrimination of women and girls, but our society is so entrapped within the four boundaries of a wall, saying that it is a great shame for females to talk out their torments, anguish and ordeal and this fact should be kept locked up, thus leading any attempts for reforms to ground zero. After all, what can she do if she is made to endure domestic persecution? Most often than not, weeping mutely, cursing her fate and fearing the loss of communal eminence. If this is happening among educated families in the urban area, then what can organizations fighting for such a cause do while voicing their cause at the grassroots level?

This is sad, really sad and it worries me thinking what the future holds for the next generation. I mean will it change or will it still be like this?

Torture, rape and custodial deaths

Torture by the army, APF and police is reported almost daily. The APF, which was established in 2001, has been increasingly cited in allegations of torture. The army systematically held people blindfolded and handcuffed for days, weeks or even months. Torture methods included rape, falanga (beatings on the soles of the feet), electric shocks, belana (rolling a weighted stick along the prisoner’s thighs causing muscle damage), beating with iron rods covered in plastic and mock executions.

In early November 2002, it submitted 57 such reports to the heads of the security forces urging them to be investigated and for Amnesty International to be informed of the outcome. In mid-December 2002, the cases were also submitted to UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. Among them were the cases of two unmarried Muslim cousins who had been arrested by army personnel from Chisapani army camp, Banke district, on 3 April 2002. Their arrest and detention followed the earlier arrest of Masgit Maniyar, the father of Tabsum Maniyar. Masgit Maniyar was arrested on February 27, 2002 and detained in Chisapani army camp for about one month.

Masgit Maniyar was arrested by about 30 army personnel around midnight. The army personnel claimed that they had a report that Maniyar was involved in the smuggling of drugs. He was then arrested and with his hands tied he was taken away by the army. He was then put into a vehicle which was parked nearby and taken to the Chisapani army camp. His family members repeatedly tried to visit him there, but they were not given permission.

He was tortured and asked to pay Nepali rupees 1,800,000. After sometime, a army Captain came to the family home and asked for the money from the wife of Maniyar. She sold all her ornaments to a jewellery shop called Porawar Jewellery in Nepalgunj and also asked for help from different relatives. This way, she managed to collect 700,000 and handed it over to the Captain. After this, Maniyar was released on the condition that he would pay the remaining 1,100,000. However, he could not find the rest of the money within the given time of a week and out of fear he moved to India.

On April 3, 2002, about 15 army personnel along with the same Captain came to Masgit Maniyar’s home and asked for him. When they found he had gone to India they asked instead for the young girls, Tarnum and Tabsum Maniyar. The girls tried to hide on the roof of the house. However, they couldn’t escape and were arrested by the soldiers.

After their arrest, the two girls were taken to army vehicles parked near their house. The Captain kept Tarnum with him in his own vehicle, while Tabsum was asked to stay with the other army men in the next vehicle. On the way to Chisapani army camp, the Captain repeatedly told Tarnum that the reason for their arrest is the "escape of Masgit".

At Chisapani army camp, they were told to sleep on the rooftop of the building. Blankets were provided and the next morning they were offered coffee. The Captain told them that they should not worry and that he is "under pressure" because of the escape of Masgit Maniyar.

For a whole day they were locked in a room and told that Masgit Maniyar had been kept in a room. Later in the day they were given food. After a while, at about 9 pm, a soldier came and took Tarnum, saying that "Sir" had asked her to come. She was then taken to the room of the Captain, where she found him drinking beer. He reportedly told her that she has to pay for her uncle’s mistake. She cried and pleaded her innocence but was threatened to obey his orders if she cared for her life. She reports that he then raped her.

Tarnum cried after being raped, so she was taken back to the custody room. In the meantime, Tabsum was taken to another officer, referred to by everyone at the army camp as "Saheb". She was also allegedly raped and then taken back to the custody room. Both of them were threatened to keep quiet.

After about two and a half hours, Tarnum was again taken to the Captain’s room. The captain gave her a toothbrush and towel and asked her to brush her teeth and take a shower. She did so. Then she was raped again. Tarnum alleges that the Captain raped her three times during that night. Around 5 am, she was then asked to put her clothes on and to go back to the custody room.

Tarnum was bleeding severely. Tabsum was also feeling sick the next day and both were feeling very weak. They were told by the Captain that the reason why he raped them was just to take revenge against their father and uncle. He said he would release them if they did not tell anyone. They were then threatened that if they told anyone, they would be caught again, raped and shot dead. He also told them that he would visit them every week to make sure that they had not left the place and had not told anybody.

Since Tarnum was bleeding severely, at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the Captain put them into a vehicle and brought them to Nepalgunj bazaar. Next day Tarnum was taken to a medical doctor in Nepalgunj. She was prescribed some medicines for the bleeding, but did not tell the doctor that she had been raped.

Both continue to suffer from nightmares, excessive fear and sudden palpitations. Tabsum is also reported to be seriously mentally disturbed.

During the search operation in Pathariya village, Kailali district, on September 10, 2002 in which Sukuram Chaudhary was killed, members of the APF raped Sita Chaudhary. A neighbour, Sri Krishna Devi, aged 20 and pregnant, was also allegedly raped.

There have been reports of the security forces trying to cover up the death of prisoners who died under torture as "killed during an escape attempt" or during an "encounter". In one such case, Kancha Dangol, a carpenter, was among five men arrested by soldiers during a cordon and search operation at Tokha village, Kathmandu on March 15, 2002. They were seen being taken to the nearby Sivapur army camp. But when their relatives went there, they were told they were not in their custody. Three days later, police brought the body of Kancha Dangol to Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital. According to a delegation of human rights activists who saw the body, he appeared to have been severely tortured and had been shot through the head. A post-mortem investigation reportedly stated that the cause of death was injury due to gunshot from a firearm to the head from a close range.

The body was returned to his relatives. Amnesty International was told by the Commander of the Army that an investigation by the army into his death is ongoing. However, to Amnesty International’s knowledge, to date no action has been taken against the army personnel involved in and his relatives have not been provided with any redress.

The combination of unsatisfactory internal investigations and a lack of accountability for torture and death in custody have reinforced the climate of impunity among security personnel.

Moditva on the prowl

ANIL PANICKER

The incident dates back to some two years ago. I was pushing pen, working for a premier national English daily in India. Those were very exciting and exacting times for a journalist, especially when Chhattisgarh was all set to embark on its solo journey as a separate state carved out of erstwhile Madhya Pradesh.

One fine Sunday morning, I found myself stationed at the state headquarters of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in Raipur, the capital city.

Elections for the various district chiefs were being held on that day and the place was swarming with truck-loads of slogan shouting, belligerent candidates and their supporters, who had converged from various nooks and corners of the state.

Lobbying and counter lobbying among the candidates went on quite openly in full view of the galaxy of the media present to cover the event.

And then hell broke out. At around two in the afternoon, when the election results were declared, the losing candidates and their supporters went berserk. In no time they had set ablaze a dozen vehicles, hijacked the busy thoroughfare and smashed anything and everything that came within their sights.

Stunned and shocked by the sudden orgy of violence, we journos ran for cover and managed to take cover in the second floor premises of the party office, a section of which was on fire.

Pushed into the relative safety of a jam packed room, I found myself along with a dozen other scribes, right in the centre of a pitched battle, not very different from the crude wars played out in the mohallas.

As the atmosphere literally heated, with boulders, hockey sticks, petrol bombs and the odd gun fire reverberating all around us, one man in the entire room was a picture of serenity. He cracked jokes and even managed to smile through his bearded visage. Bereft of all emotions, behind those gold rimmed designer glasses, the man was an island all to himself.

I had come face to face with Narendra Modi. The arrival of Modi, an ordinary general secretary and RSS pracharak, who was sent on a fire fighting mission to Chhattisgarh, ironically brought in violence of a kind that was unheard of in those parts for a long time.

Today, it is this image of a smiling, unruffled Modi that instantly springs up in my mind, when I go through the events of the past nine months in riot-torn Gujarat.

I pictured him in Gandhi Nagar, safely seated in his ornate chief minister’s chair, smiling that same villainous smile, even as Hindu fundamentalists ran amok, butchering, raping and looting their Muslim brethren, in the days immediately after a train-load of Hindus were torched alive in Godhra.

I pictured him again this Sunday on December 14, when the poll results gave him and his party a thundering mandate.

Everything else was the same, only the degree of violence had increased. It was the same man with the same smile—the smile of an assassin.

As things stand now, there is nothing more precious for the millions of right wing Hindus and the ideological outfits that they owe allegiance to than this man’s vote trapping smile.

The longer this smile lasts, the more the advocates of strident Hindutva, (Hindu way of life) as propounded by the Sangh Parivar, get to benefit in electoral politics.

And the more scary will life become for the minorities, especially the Muslims of India.

Hours after the BJP conquered their last bastion, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) secretary general, Praveen Bhai Togadia addressed a press conference where apart from once again spewing venom on the Muslims, he renewed his threat saying, "We will change the history of India and the geography of Pakistan. We will make India a Hindu Rashtra, under which the Muslims will be second class citizens."

The maverick was joined in by other equally lunatic elements who went on to add their oft repeated statement that the Gujarat laboratory experiment will be implemented in other parts of the country.

In other words what they mean is that they will exhort, lead and direct their much feared cadres to loot, kill, rape and lynch members of the minority community, all in the name of Hindutva, for the creation of a just Hindu state.

The great Hindu juggernaut is on the roll once again and if it is not checked woe betide India. The Congress should take a large portion of the blame for allowing the situation to reach such a pass.

They are guilty of not standing up and safeguarding the secular ideals of India. Their dilly dallying, ambiguous stance has created a deep wedge between them and the minorities, who feel cheated and abandoned by the one party which could have embraced them and provided them solace in their hour of peril.

The Congress gravely faulted by falling into the clever trap laid out by Modi and his acolytes and playing like the B-team of the BJP in Gujarat.

The party, which wrested Independence from the British and was built on the bedrock of secularism is today a pale shadow of its earlier self. It pawned its secular ideology and wore a tinge of saffron in Gujarat, in the mistaken belief that this will galvanise the terrified voters and urban intelligentsia to stamp in their favour.

It is time for introspection, dear Congressmen. It is not soft Hindutva that the minorities want from you. They want you to stick to good, old secularism. They want you to see that Hari, Harry, Harpreet and Hamid are all viewed through the same eyes; as equals and friends, not as enemies.

Protect them, educate them, assure them, promise them peace and above all ensure for them a life of dignity, where universal virtues of equality and brotherhood reign supreme.

If you fail in this objective and don’t stop the Modi-fication of India, then the day is not far when Modi-tva will spring up in every nook and corner of India and the country will turn into a Modi-rately mad house.

Mass exodus

RUDRA KHADKA

Nepalgunj- Ten years ago Kohalpur VDC of Banke, a Midwestern Terai district, had a population of 11,090. In the last year’s population census, the population had doubled in this comparatively accessible VDC to 20,138. Ten years ago 1857 families lived in this village which after ten years doubled to 3875.

Same pattern of increase in population was seen in Rajhena, another VDC in Banke. In 1991, the population of Rajhena was 7,000. After ten years a total of 14,900 people are living in this village which now looks overcrowded. Nepal has a population growth rate of 2.2 percent but this does not apply to Terai towns because people from hills are steadily migrating to Terai and the trend has picked up in the last couple of years due to the Maoist insurgency. According to an estimate, if the trend persists, in the next 50 years, almost all of the arable land of Terai will be filled by houses.

Kohalpur and Rajhena are not exceptions. Leaving only two or three, all the 46 VDCs of Banke face similar kind of situation, as one can see from the national census carried out last year.

As the Maoist insurgency, started in 1996 from Rolpa and Rukum, gained momentum, families and even a whole village started pouring down to Terai towns and villages. Some families could sell off their land and property, while some could not do so.

As development works, which usually provide work to the local people, grind to a halt due to violence, the impoverished mass had to come down to Terai looking for work. Another reason for mass migration was the insecurity they felt from both the maoists and the security forces. Mass migration to Terai is happening from almost all the midwestern hill districts but Rukum, Rolpa, Jajarkot, Jumla have been worst affected.

Though there is no record, according to an intelligent guess, more than one hundred thousand people from 15 districts of the midwest have already moved to other safer areas of the kingdom.

The migrants have chosen the Dang Valley, Banke and Bardiya for their settlement but Banke has lured them more. According to locals, people from hills started to come and settle in Banke one year after the insurgency but migration peaked during 1997 and 98. A whole village of migrants would come and settle during that time but this tendency has dwindled these years because people are finding it difficult to sell their ancestral property in the hills. But mass exodus to Indian cities in search of work has increased in the last few weeks, leaving the villages in the hills empty. Those who are reluctant to leave their homes face very difficult situation as Maoists force them to work for them and security persons might kill them suspecting them to be Maoists.

Jaya Lal Baral of Manma, Kalikot, who was heading to India with his 19 friends, said fear of the Maoists and lack of work had compelled them to leave the villages. In the last one month, more than 60,000 people have gone to India seeking work from Rupaediya of Nepalgunj, Jhulaghat of Baitadi and Banabasa of Majendranagar, according to the records of border police of Nepalgunj. According to them, about 1200 people from mid western hills are heading to India every day through Rupaidya check point .

The first to leave their villages were workers of the Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal UML, as they became sitting ducks for the Maoists. As situation worsened, common people not affiliated to any party and ideology also started to leave. At present, some of the people who could not sell their land and those who could not afford to travel are living in the villages, according to locals who have come to Terai town. The poorest of the poor have no option but to head for India seeking work. Purna Bahadur Roka of Aathbiskot, Rukum, who has come to this town with an intention of going to Simla, India, for work says, " I cannot afford to settle in a Terai town because I do not have enough money. Back in my village the security situation is good. I have come here to go to India to save my life and earn some money."

While Terai districts are witnessing a very high population growth hill districts look deserted. In 1991, Rukum had a population of 155,554. In ten years time the population increase was only 30 thousand.

As people are leaving in droves, agricultural land is being left unattended as many villages are left with the elderly, children and women.

Ram Bahadur KC, who migrated from Chiwang of Rukum last year and settled in Kohalpur said he had to do so because Maoists would come, ask for food and take household goods forcefully. " I was lucky enough to be able to sell my land. Now it is very difficult to sell land at a Maoist affected area."

Sprawling Shanghai

SATYENDRA TIMILSINA

It is not the scenic beauty, or the historical impulsion that gravitates people to this densely populated city of China, but the spontaneous industrial and commercial growth that magnetise people to Shanghai.

The tremendous growth recorded here, has led to the transformation of a small town called Shanghai to a flourishing trade port in entire China, within a short span of a decade. It was only in 1990’s when the real transformation began – when the Chinese government adopted open and liberalised economic policy, with special attention to bolster the economies of major Chinese cities in the coastal region of East China sea.

According to Ding Wei, a tour guide in Shanghai, all major constructions of this city – skyscrapers, double-cable-stayed long-span suspension bridges, canal below the river, multipurpose stadiums, multi-layered fly-over, among several others – were built in just ten years time. "The city that you see today is completely different form what it was in past years." And this is why Shanghai is posing a big threat to Hong Kong, the busiest industrial and trade junction of the world.

"Every visitor in a repeated-visit to Shanghai shows excitement, as if they are in a re-engineered city with a new look every year," she adds. As a testimony to the rapid infrastructural growth of the city, Shanghai is building two additional high-resistance suspension bridges over the Huangpu River, on whose banks, the city rests. The builders aim to open them for the World Trade Fair and Exhibition to be held in 2010.

Shanghai, gearing up to organise international trade fair in 2010, is also preparing to become a major trade transit point for entire China within the next three years. And to avoid the probable transit pressure by that time, it is constructing new railway station in its south. The investment in the infrastructure development seems perennial as the city is getting a new look each year.

To experience the marvellous economic expansion of the city, Shanghai has a 468-meter-high Oriental Pearl Television Tower, the tallest in Asia and third in the world. With its design, the television tower has been marked as a symbolic construction of Shanghai and one of the top ten Shanghai spectacles. "It was such a wonderful experience to have a panoramic view of the city," said a Nepali tourist in Shanghai. Specially, the viewing of Bund, which is famous for its different architectural structures from around the world – Muslim, European, Asian and others – is simply superb.

Cool air blowing gently in the wide pedestrian street of the Bund, which is on the banks of Hunagpu River, excites any foreigner. Nonetheless, the colourful light arrangements in the area during night, makes Bund the most exciting and memorable place to visit.

The TV tower, in its basement exhibits Shanghai’s Urban Development history. Covering an area of about 10,000 square meters, the exhibition integrates history, culture of Shanghai. The exhibition also displays thousands of precious relics. The lively sculptures, carved with deft hands make people feel the Chinese life (both rural and modern) of the past. The exhibition is a mirror of Chinese life. Here visitors can see all parts of traditional Chinese life. The sculptures of Chinese people living inside hay-roofed huts, people lining in grocery shops buying Chinese cuisine gives a glimpse of ancient Chinese society. On the other hand the icons of well-dressed couples dancing in a bar shows the wealthier life of the same period.

The museum was built in the 1930s when modernisation of every kind began to eclipse the past culture of China. The museum of artificial display of the society in 1930s was opened to public two years ago. Unlike in most tourist spots, most of the visitors to this museum are the Chinese people themselves who total around 10,000 each day—80 percent of the total visitors.