Tourism sees hope on the horizon

BY B. M. DAHAL

After last week’s declaration of a state of emergency in the country, people from all walks of life have realized that peace and security situations have started to change for the better across the kingdom. People as well as foreign visitors are seen moving about without any fear in the capital city and also to and from various other parts of the country.

The improving security situation and the restoration of peace have created new hope and enthusiasm among the people who directly or indirectly affiliated to the tourism industry and other economic sectors. The positive change is expected to give a big sigh of relief to the tourism industry as a whole as it is one of the most sensitive sectors.

The industry suffered the most from various events and incidents, including the growing terrorist activities of the Maoists in the past. Although the Maoists did not target tourists, the activities of the former had generated a kind of fear among the prospective visitors and a large number of such clients cancelled their programmes to visit this Himalayan Kingdom. Now tourism sector, which had been ailing for some time, and other economic activities are expected to receive a boost in the days to come.

"Although there is a slight declining trend of air traffic at present, the situation will improve once the security measures are further boosted up across the country," says M. P. Khanal, Director at the Commercial Department of the national flag carrier— Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC).

Khanal, who is also the Chairman of Board of Airlines Representatives in Nepal (BARN), an umbrella association of both online and offline airlines, believes that the state of emergency will have positive impacts on tourism sector in the long run.

"Despite the state of emergency, touristic sites as well as other places of interest in Nepal are not restricted for visitors. So, we have to disseminate the message in the international tourism market that Nepal is safer and more peaceful," he opines.

In the past, Nepal had a very good image in the international arena. As a birthplace of Lord Buddha, the harbinger of peace and non-violence, Nepal was known to the world as a safe and peaceful destination with friendly and ever smiling people. Once peace is restored, the country will again be able to attract more and more visitors since it has many attractions to offer to foreigners.

Joy Dewan, President of Nepal Association of Travel Agents (NATA), is of the opinion that the announcement of the situation of emergency has certainly helped in restoring peace and security in the country.

"Peace is first and foremost thing for creating a normal life situation. As the whole country is in need of peace and security, the present effort made by the government is expected to be instrumental in recovering peace," says Dewan.

He emphasizes the need to spread the information throughout the globe that Nepal has no any problem for visitors as the situation has normal.

In order to convey such a message, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), in coordination with all the travel trade related associations, has established a home page—Nepal Today— to disseminate updated information about Nepal during the state of emergency to the world. The Home Page contains recent and updated press releases that float information about the country’s law and order situation during the state of emergency.

"To check the dissemination of wrong information, we have included updated information about Nepal in the home page," says Tek Bahadur Dangi, Director-Promotion & Marketing with NTB.

Dangi believes that the law and order situation of the country has improved tremendously following the declaration of the state of emergency.

The Home Page conveys the message that travelling to and within Nepal is still relatively a safe and enjoyable experience and visitors are enjoying normal situations in most of the major tourist destinations. For the information of foreigners, it spreads the information that emergency in the present context refers to a temporary suspension of political activities and it is a preventive measure.

"Nepal’s overall tourism situation has worsened following the Maoists escalated their terrorist activities by scrapping the cease-fire. However, situation has now improved after the declaration of the state of emergency," says Narendra Bajracharya, President of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN).

Bajracharya is also hopeful that the emergency situation will have positive results in future.

"Along with the stepping up of security measures, the government has to clearly define the state of emergency and disseminate the information that it has been declared just to control the Maoist activities," he says.

In the views of former HAN President Gautam Das Shrestha, the foreign embassies as well as Royal Nepalese Embassies based in foreign countries have to be urged to convey the message that Nepal’s situation is normal despite the declaration of emergency situation.

"We have to disseminate the information through embassies to the world tourism market that Nepal is worth visiting as it has no security-related problems," says Shrestha.

He is also optimistic that the government’s present step will have positive impacts on not only tourism but also the entire economic activities of the country.

Suman Pandey, President of Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN), is of the opinion that the country’s tourism sector will revive as soon as the law and order situation improves.

Pandey says that factual information about the country’s situation has to be conveyed to the outside world so as to tell the prospective visitors that Nepal is a safe and peaceful destination.

Ashok Pokharel, Chairman of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA Nepal Chapter, says that apart from the present state of emergency, the government has to enact necessary laws and regulations to check terrorist activities to restore peace and security in the country.

"As Nepal is known to the world as an exotic tourist destination, tourist arrivals will definitely start to grow significantly once a more peaceful and normal situation is created," says Pokharel.

He asks the government to formulate long term plans and programmes related to the economic development.

Considering the fact that the tourism industry is a mainstay of national economy and it has multiplier impacts on the society, both the governmental and private sector have to move ahead hand in hand to reinvigorate this highly potential sector when there is every sign that improvement has already taking place as far as law and order situation in the country is concerned.

Nanglo in Butwal

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Dec. 3: On its silver jubilee Nanglo Restaurant has opened Nanglo West, in Butwal. The restaurant was formally opened last week.

In order to preserve the declining traditional culture and art of Bitauli in Butwal, Nanglo West has developed a tourism complex in which facilities such as bakery, restaurant, travel and handicraft shop are made available to the domestic as well as foreign people.

"In the past, restaurants were considered to be only for foreigners. But now the concept has changed. We had started our services targeting the Nepalese to promote and develop domestic tourism in the country," said Shyam Sundar Lal Kakshapati, Chairman of Nanglo Group.

Nanglo West has also been providing its services to the local people as well as foreign visitors in Tansen, Palpa for the last three years.

Kakshapati emphasised the need to generate awareness about the benefits of tourism among the rural people so as to involve them in the protection of traditional art, culture and heritage.

"When tourism is taken to the rural areas, definitely the pressure of population will decrease in the urban areas," he said.

Keeping the idols home

BY PRAVEEN KHADKA

"This is a delightful abode to the dewellers and a sweet place for pilgrims and the travelers who will once visit here."

The above sentence aptly describes Nepal which is described as the treasure house of ancient arts and artifacts by many people. Such arts and other works of craftsmanship are strewn in abundance all over the ancient temples and pagodas that can be seen around Kathmandu. They also depict the Hindus and Buddhist architecture. Nepalese cultural and arts are highly appreciated all over the world. That’s why everyone from every corner of the world say that Nepal is rich in its cultural heritage though it’s economy is poor. It is obvious that the cultural heritage has been instrumental in providing valuable knowledge on the evolution of Nepalese civilization to the visiting tourist and the scholars of the world.

It is estimate that more than 25 per cent of the foreign visitors come to Nepal to watch and study the objects that have archaeological importance. One western writer has written that the number of temples and idols are equal to the number of houses and people present in the city.

The situation seems to have changed as in the past people even feared to touch the idols. But, now due to various circumstances the objects that have an archaeological importance have been decreasing in number because they have been stolen and mostly smuggled abroad.

It is estimated that 90 per cent of such important artifacts have been either buried in the mud or smuggled outside the country. Most of them are believed to be in United Kingdom, Germany, France and United States of America

To retrieve such precious idols, a set of six postcards were launched at a function jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Department of Archaeology (DoA) and UNESCO and promoted by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) entitled "Illicit Traffic in Cultural Property" on August 30, 2001 for the first time.

Those postcards show four stolen idols from Nepal. Three of them are 5th century image of standing Buddha of Deopatan, 6th century seated image of Buddha of Patan, image of Chaturmurti from village of Sankhu and 12th century image of Shiva and Parvati from a water fountain in Bhaktapur. It is encouraging that two lost idols have been recovered. One is 14th century image of Sun God Surya that was stolen in 1981, which was recovered with the co-operation of the Los Angles Country Museum, California, U.S.A. And another 12th century image of Shiva and Parvati stolen from Dulikhel in 1982 was returned by the German authorities from the Museum of Indian Art in Berlin last year. The idols were returned on the basis of details provided in the book ‘Stolen Images of Nepal" written by Dr. Lain Singh Bangdel, Art Historian and former Vice Chancellor of Royal Nepal Academy.

The latest issue about the stealing of such idols is the theft of gold-plated idols of Bhupitendra Malla and two other idols from the courtyard of Changu Naraya Temple, one of the monuments listed in the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. However, those idols were found buried in the jungle, a kilometer away from the temple.

To stop such activities every one should be equally alert though there are certain organizations for the protection of cultural heritage. Only with the participation and devotion of all, such organizations will be successful in their work.

That’s why, a symposium related to preserving and recovering the ancient artifacts of Nepal was organized recently for the second time. The media can play an important role in stopping such nefarious activities and creating awareness among the people. The symposium called to have an amended Kathmandu Declaration as agreed by the symposium of August 30, 2001 and subsequently endorsed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

For the control of smuggling of the cultural property this declaration has prepared certain permanent mechanisms, which includes promotion and the establishment of a tri-partite commission, made up of representative of the Department of Archaeology, Department of Customs and Nepal Police, creation of a website to raise international awareness on the missing cultural property of Nepal and eliciting the participation of media, police, customs, educational institutions, NGOs, INGOs and civil society in the preservation of cultural property.

This should significantly contribute for the protection of cultural property, not only for the identification of the nation but also for giving a boost to the tourism industry.