Bio-diversity as a blessing for tourism

By Bhimsen Thapaliya

IF ONE is to determine the most significant features of Nepal pertaining to tourism, topping the list would be nature and culture. If we are to promote Nepal’s image in the rest of the world, we cannot overlook these aspects. And when we look at the country’s tourism advantage, bio-diversity takes an overriding place.

Nepal’s bio-diversity richness within a relatively small geographical expansion is a rare wealth. This wonderful blessing of nature is significant. Be it the one-horned rhino of Chitwan, majestic tigers roaming the Terai forests, colourful butterflies, magnificent flowers or bewitching birds, a Nepal visitor finds a unique charm in the diverse flora and fauna. For holiday makers, naturalists and researchers alike, the wealth of animal and plant diversity in this country creates an unrivalled destination.

A great factor contributing to Nepal’s bio-diversity is her climate which also matches its diversity. Within a relatively narrow north-to-south stretch of the country, which ranges less than 300 kilometres, a foreign visitor will be bewildered to find the climatic conditions at their two extremes- the snowcapped, frozen peaks in the north to the sizzling temperate zone of the southern flat lands. Between the two climatic superlatives, you have the great opportunity to experience the varied and pleasant atmosphere of the Mahabharata hills, the Chure range, the valleys, foothills and mountains. As with the topography and elevations, there is the sundry variety both in the climate and the biological world. This makes this Himalayan Kingdom a naturalist’s paradise.

Professor Prem Uprety in his seminar paper on South Asia’s tourism potential, says that Nepal with its unique tapestry of natural and cultural heritage has unlimited potentials for the rise and evolution of tourism industry in this region.

Facing at the fierce one-horned rhino and graceful tiger while on an elephant ride in Chitwan are in the dream and itinerary of many tourists coming to Nepal. Real excitement is when one gets the opportunity to closely observe these exotic animals roaming in the deep tropical wild. Others who have interest in bird watching and ornithology find Koishi Tappu an ideal spot which is famed as one of the richest bird sanctuaries in Asia. The same place is renowned for studying the habit and habitat of the rare wild buffaloes.

Every protected area in Nepal has some unique attraction to offer to visitors, from flowers and butterflies to aquatic life to the high altitude dwellers such as the snow leopards.

Out of a total of 5,000 plant species, 190 are indigenous to this country. Around 700 of them are valuable medicinal plants. Lali Guras (rhododendron), the national flower of Nepal, adorns most of the hilly and mountainous areas. Equally enchanting are the seasonal flowers bearing important cultural and religious significance. The wild fowl or Luiche, found in Nepalese forests are the progenitor of the domesticated chicken. This country has a place as one of the traditional growers of tangerine. Likewise, the wild bananas, wild mangoes and wild apples found in Nepal are said to have immense genetic value. Nepal is the house to around 850 species of wetland, aqua, migratory and residential birds.

Migratory birds visit Koshi Tappu from as far as Siberia, Tibet and Spain. Interesting aqua inhabitants are dolphins and crocodiles besides a wide variety of fishes. Different 600 species of colourful butterflies are found in this country. Adding to that are the 50 species of moths and 180 species of dragonflies.

Nepal has 181 species of mammals, 100 species of reptiles, 67 species of snakes and 43 species of amphibians. Nepalese rivers teem with 184 species of fish including 8 endemic ones.

With ecological imbalance invited by population rise, many of the flora and fauna species have come under threat of extinction. To address this problem a network of national parks, reserves and conservation areas have been developed. These protected sites have themselves become places of tourist attraction.

Will the 'festival for life' allure more Indian Tourists?

By Navin Singh Khadka

Crisis management is one thing. But, acting at the eleventh hour is something different, most often risky. And this is one trait the national tourism industry has usually taken to.

Sample the latest development. A special campaign for Indian market is afoot to arrest the downward trend of inbound Indian tourists. Hats are off for the honest efforts to usher in more Indians -- who normally comprise of more than 30 per cent of the total tourist arrivals, but have declined in the last two years.

The year 2000 recorded more than 30 per cent decrease in the number of Indian tourists. And the officialdom rightly copied the troubled message. Yet, it failed to make a timely move.

That the Indian tourists' arrival in the country had significantly dwindled was something known more than one year ago. In January, 2000, the visitors from the immediate southern neighbour were down by more than 50 per cent.

Agreed that the drastic fall was dubbed as an aftermath of the Indian Airlines' Airbus-hijack after the flight took off for New Delhi from Kathmandu on December 24, 1999.

But, even by last year's May -- the peak time for Indians to visit the country -- the picture continued to be bleak as only 10,000 Indian tourists visited the country. That was half the figure recorded during the same month in 1999.

As if that were not enough, one after another incident reasoned to keep Indian holidayers away. These were adequate indications for the policy-makers to hit the iron when it was hot -- if they really valued Indian tourists.

But, it is only now that they have decided to launch a special campaign in the Indian market. Interestingly, the campaign titled "Festival for life" is valid for this year's May through July -- the peak seasons Indians opt to be here.

And how far is that? Only a fortnight. Meaning, it's a race against time. Had it been for other prime destinations like western countries, the promotion would by no means have been productive at all. The reason: Visitors from the first world plan about their travel at least one-year in advance.

And even in Indians' case, they do need at least one quarter of a year, if not its half. But, in this case, the moment they get to hear what the "Festival for life" has in stock for them, they will have to decide. Under such circumstances, many of them may not act in haste to prevent waste.

And that will boomerang the output of the eleventh hour work of the national travel industry. Officials of Nepal Tourism Board -- the autonomous body that will lead the campaign -- agree it's late. But they point at the overall co-ordination in the travel trade as the factor that consumed time.

Whatever the reason, the fact is: Something is happening at the neck of time. Associated with such hasty venture are several risks. Will there, for instance, be enough and timely preparation? Will the package reach the desired target? And last, but not the least, will it do justice to the market not giving enough time to decide and plan?

The latest special program for the Indian market is not an exception of its type. There have been such "grandeur follies" in the past well as well. The shaky future of Destination Nepal 2002 is one striking example. With no homework for the tourism promotional extravaganza, the officialdom had no choice but to peg the idea with something else for the later half of 2002.

Even now, planners are yet to sketch the road map of the publicity-stunt. So much so, no one knows yet what does the event's menu has on offer. Another eleventh hour crisis in the making? Perhaps.

What is for sure is that such ill-prepared works will only place the national tourism industry at the receiving end. When bonanzas like Visit Nepal Year 1998 -- that was declared well ahead of time -- floundered to produce the planned results, the outcome of the hastily framed events can be anybody's guess.

Passenger movement on the rise

By B.M. Dahal

Although the number of countries signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of the Air Services Agreement (ASA) with Nepal has already reached 31, the country still faces the problem of adequate number of air seats. The number of such countries has increased with Nepal adopting an open sky policy since the early 1990s. Several new foreign international airlines began flying to Nepal during the Visit Nepal Year’98. In the international front, the passenger movement has also commensurately increased. In 1999, the passenger movement increased by 28 per cent as compared to the year 1991.

As per the MoU signed with various countries, there are 73,566 two-way weekly seats available for Nepal. Having opened the door to aviation in 1949 with the landing of a single-engine aircraft at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), now a total of 16 foreign international airlines, besides the national flag carrier-- Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC)-- are operating scheduled flights to Nepal. Currently, Nepal is linked with more than a dozen destinations in Asia and Europe. But, only 27.4 per cent of the total seats available are being utilized at present.

"The signing of ASA with other countries is just opening the doors for foreign international airlines. The airlines from the concerned countries can start their flights only when they think it to be commercially viable," says Yagya Prasad Gautam, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA).

Gautam, who looks after the aviation sector, also says that the government has adopted a policy to encourage the national airlines to go international.

Most of the foreign international airlines have not utilised the number of seats mentioned in the ASA document. However, airlines such as Qatar Airways have fully utilised the seats and their occupancy rate is also said to be encouraging. From operating a single flight a week since 1995, Qatar Airways now operates seven weekly flights. And it has already asked the government for permission to operate 14 flights a week from October this year.

"Considering the upcoming Destination Nepal Year 2002, we have decided to double the existing number of flights. We have also promoted Nepal as an adventure and cultural destination in various parts of the world," says Arjun K. Gang, Regional Director of Qatar Airways.

Gang further says that the airlines has been promoting Nepal’s tourism potentials in the Middle East and European countries by organising familiarisation trips for tour operators selling Nepal. Recently, it had organised a familiarisation trip to Egypt for some of Nepal’s leading travel agents.

"We have promoted Nepal’s diverse culture, religious harmony and natural beauty. Nepal has been a profitable sector for us," he says.

The right promotion campaign has paid off for Qatar Airways but RNAC, despite being the national flag carrier, has not been able to retain its image as a reliable carrier and so the under-utilisation of the air seats that it has to offer in the international sector.

NTB's sales missions

BY A STAFF REPORTER

The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has organised its first ever tourism sales mission to Australia and Singapore. According to NTB, the programmes in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were held in 26th, 28th and 30th of March respectively and that in Singapore was held in April 2.

A press release of NTB says Australia is the 9th largest inbound market for Nepal and they are also among the high spending ones with ALOS (average length of stay) among the highest at 21 days.

Australians are also among the most frequent visitors outside their country. In 1999, 3.2 out of 19 million Australians had visited abroad and of them 59 per cent visiting only Asia and the Pacific.

The NTB also said almost 70 per cent of the Australian visitors to Nepal are handled by only three tour operators there.

Similarly, about 6,000 Singaporeans had visited Nepal in 2000. This is a meagre number compared to 70,000 Singaporeans visiting the South Asian region and the frequency of visit made by the Singaporeans. Singapore has a population of 3.8 million, but the number of outbound trips of the island country is more than 7 million. Considering the direct air-links between the two countries, Nepal can do much better in attracting Singaporean visitors.

The NTB said the special sales missions were meant to create awareness through press and business meets between the private sector travel trade companies of the two countries. The target of the sales mission to Singapore were four operators, travel agents, MICE operators and the media, said the press release.

In Australia also, press meets and travel trade meets were organised in the three cities.

The sales mission had tried to explain and generate awareness that Nepal is not only a venue for mountaineers and trekkers, but could be a suitable place for other aspects of tourism such as MICE. The mission also focussed on highlighting Nepal's conservation efforts, eco-tourism and village tourism.

The sales mission programme was participated by almost 90 press and 150 travel trade invitees in Australia while that in Singapore was attended by 80 persons from the press as well as from the travel trade. The sales missions were supported by the Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation and the Thai Air.