Destination Nepal Campaign: Never too late

By Navin Singh Khadka

When the government last week formally accepted programmes for the Destination Nepal Campaign 2002-2003, there were apprehensions from certain quarters about the timing of the promotional tourism extravaganza.

The reservations, from both the officialdom and the private sector, was based on the crisis the country is now reeling under. So much so, majority of the private sector even "boycotted" the meeting for the DNC last Tuesday before the campaign’s programmes were formally announced.

"Who would be interested in these programmes when we ourselves are not sure about the security situations?" asked an official not wanting to be named. "True," supported a senior tourism entrepreneur. "How can we sell the idea now?"

Tourism Minister Bal Bahadur K.C., however, had a rejoinder for them. "We cannot just sit watching the downslide of the tourist arrivals. We think we must act, at least to arrest the declining arrival trend, if not to increase it."

He did admit that the announcement of the DNC programmes had been delayed. "In the present circumstances we needed time to discuss with all the concerned quarters."

Tourist arrivals in the last three months have declined by 50 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year. Last year had already recorded a decline of more than 20 per cent in the arrivals of tourist than that of 2000.

No doubt the planned events like the DNC are against all odds for now. But, should the concerned agencies — both in the public and private sector — fold their hands just because the national environment is not conducive? Should they not be pro-active at all?

Veteran tourism entrepreneurs are in favour of self-mobilisation. "Even if the national and international series if event in the last two years have had tremendous negative effects for our country, we should not stop promoting our tourism," says Tek Chandra Pokhrel, one of the pioneer tour operators in the country. "But we must do it in such a way that people do not laugh at us."

To make the promotional bonanza like the DNC not look ridiculous serious planning and equally cautious implementation are necessary, tourism pundits say.

Tentative planning for the DNC, the government seems to have for now. At the heart of the campaign is the golden jubilee celebration of the first human ascent on Mountain Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest). "Under this theme many adventure and entertaining games will be held and all the Everest summiteers and famous foreigners who have contributed to Nepal’s mountain tourism will be honoured at the national level," said the minister.

What’s more a plan is underway to establish a training institution for mountain tourism and mountaineering. Major travel agents, journalists, international airlines’ chiefs and popular personalities who have helped promote the Nepalese travel trade will be invited for familiarisation trips.

Air service agreements with China and other countries will be signed while the arrangement of surface transport for tourists coming from China and India will be simplified.

According to the drafted DNC plan, there will be a special tourism promotional programmes in Chinese cities. Nepal and China signed an agreement last year, allowing Chinese tourists to visit the country. Chinese nationals can visit only those counties which are recognised as outbound destinations by China. The government in line with the Chinese Government’s demand, has already nominated 78 travel agents to handle Chinese tourists.

"The campaign aims to improve policy and infrastructure for sustainable and co-ordinated development," said Minister K.C. while accepting the plan.

Going by the plans like these, the DNC, at the face of it, does appear to have some plans. Even if they may sound a bit vague. Especially, when the campaign does not have a figure target like that of the Visit Nepal Year 1998 that aimed to usher in 500,000 tourists.

But, what remains to be seen is if the campaign would implement the plans and programs – even if they are sketchy for now.

The national tourism industry does not have a good track record when it comes to implementing the plans. Not that the tourism industry lacks the plans and programmes. Ever since George Lebrec, former Director General of Tourism in France prepared the first tourism master plan for Nepal way back in 1956, there have been more than a dozen tourism plans — some of them sectoral — for the country’s travel trade.

So, what did not work? None of the plans were implemented seriously, observers say. And the government once again is mustering up to prepare a tourism master plan. Upon the government’s request, the World Tourism Oraganisation has already deputed a consultant to prepare the document, according to MoCTCA officials.

"Since we already have so many plans now we need to have an action or implementation plan," says Pokhrel.

Toward that end, DNC, that has an allocated budget of 22.5 million Rupees for now, could set a new precedent – by making its actions speak louder than its words. Keep your eyes and ears open.

When deities gaze upon the mortals

By Sumendra Maharjan

The Shiva-Parbati temple is one of the two unique temples, the other being the Kumari temple, of the Kathmandu Durbar Square. Rana Bahadur Shah, grandson of Prithvi Narayan Shah, built the temple in late 18th century. The notable feature of the temple is the deities, Shiva and his consort Parvarti, looking through the window.

It has a single dimentional Nepalese style temple with two levels - floor and balcony. The temple is built in semi-domestic style, like the Kumari temple of the same square. It is located on the left of Shiva Mandir and across the Akalaya temples.

The temple stands on a four-tier plinth of stone and brick. It has two stone lions at the front. It has a screened balcony which goes around the temple. There are five full-size doors at the entrance side, four of which are wood screened and one is functional, but it is usually locked.

The windows have large forward-slanting, wooden festoons (toranas) carved with numerous small deities.

The side walls of the rectangular building have unusually large triple screened windows on extended frame that are mounted on plastered brick wall. The back of the building has simple decoration and it has no doorway. Above the doorway level there is wooden cornice with typical animal head beam as well as double row of carved human figure. It is plastered at the top and slant downward differing from the usual flat ledge in other temples.

There are no struts resting against the ledge, but the heavy balcony structure rests against the core wall.

The roof is of large interlocking red tiles with angular tiles forming overlapping edge. The long corner curves are made of special tiles. The golden pinnacle of three equal-sized spires, which are tall and narrow, have a triple arch supporting three umbrellas over the spires. This is the most decorative pinnacle in the square.

The structure of the balcony is more substantive than most others temples such as kumbheswara or Balakumari in Patan. The lower third of the outward-slanting extension is of solid wood with open or screened window frames. They are placed above solid border vertical beams that divide the long balcony into many sections, each with a window. These windows vary in design and are among the best in the square.

At the outer edges of the entrance are simple and narrow windows with arched tops. Towards the center these are two more wider windows with scalloped top frames forming three small arches. There are two more windows with five small arches, slightly wider than the other, with a pointed center arch. The next pair of openings, which flank the central window, are circular but have square frames. They are screened with wooden lattices that fan out from their centers like the spokes of a wheel.

Lastly, we have the large single window at the center of the balcony, with flamboyantly carved arched frame.

This window holds the wooden images of Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati. It looks as if they are looking gazeing down at the worshipper and passer bys in a relaxed mood. The figures are amazingly casual with their elbows resting on the window sill and one of Shiva’s arches hanging over the ledge.

Although the faces of deities are sometimes put on the temple windows, as the bronze masks at Taleju in Kathmandu, they vary considerably in effect, and the images at their window setting are unique in their homeliness. This is the most notable feature of the Shiva-Parvati shrine at the Durbar Square.

Tourism sees a silver lining

By B. M. Dahal

Despite the not-so-good scenario of tourist arrivals in the first three months of 2002, travel trade people are still hopeful that the tourism business will revive in the future.

A total of 52,644 tourists from across the world visited Nepal by air in the initial three months this year, while 95,550 visitors came in the corresponding period in 2001. The tourist arrivals decreased by 47.59 per cent, 45.66 per cent and 42.51 per cent in January, February and March in 2002 respectively compared to the numbers of the same months last year.

The number of Indian tourists, who in the past covered about one-third of the total arrivals, went down by 34.69 per cent in the first three months this year when 11,257 came to Nepal by air. The number stood at 17,234 in the same period last year.

In the three months of 2002 tourist arrivals from the third countries declined by 47.15 per cent as compared to the corresponding period in 2001. A total of 78,316 tourists visited Nepal in the first quarter of last year, whereas the country witnessed only 41,378 tourists this year. Among third countries, the United States of America, Japan and the United Kingdom (UK) are the major tourism markets for Nepal.

The numbers of visitors who visited Nepal in the first three months of 2002 slumped by 57 per cent, 55 per cent and 39 per cent respectively in comparison with the numbers of last year.

Tourist arrivals in Nepal have shown a continuous downturn trend since the beginning of 2000. Altogether 491,504 tourists visited in 1999 and the country witnessed 463,684 visitors in 1998. But the figures dwindled by 5.7 per cent in 2000 as compared to the previous year. In 2000, 463,646 visitors visited the country. But in 2001, around 21 per cent less tourists came to Nepal.

Many national and international incidents are blamed for the decreasing number of tourists in Nepal. The negative presentation of Nepal by the international media, especially Indian ones, following the hijacking of a Delhi-bound Indian plane in late December 1999 was a setback for the country’s travel business. Although the Maoists have not yet targetted the tourists, their terrorist activities have a negative impact on the travel trade front.

The royal tragedy, which took place on June 1 last year, was yet another severe blow for the country’s tourism as well as for the whole economy. The declaration of the state of emergency has also affected tourism. Although the atmosphere is not unfavurable for visitors here, the word ‘emergency’ tends to put them off.

The country saw a positive trend in the tourist arrivals until six months. But the situation worsened after the royal incident. In the third three months of last year, tourist arrivals dropped by 28 per cent. Even in such a situation, the arrivals from China, Israel and Belgium did not decrease.

The September 11 terrorist attacks in US adversely affected the travel business worldwide. The World Tourism Organisation (WTO), however, has said tourism has started showing some signs of recovery now.

"Despite negative trend in tourist arrivals, now the situation is improving gradually. More tourists from different parts of the world have started to come since last month," says hotelier Yogendra Sakya.

Sakya, board of directors of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), says the number of tourists coming from the south Indian city of Bangalore has been going up after the Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) and an Indian agency Holiday Nepal have initiated a package to sell Nepal holidays.

The former President of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) and Nepal Incentive and Convention Association (NICA) believes that Nepal’s tourism could revive as soon as peace is restored. "Considering insecure situation outside Kathmandu, we need to focus on conference tourism as the conference tourists do not go outside normally. They just go for sightseeing."

He says despite the disappointing situation, NTB is making promotional efforts abroad. "We are also thinking of bringing fresh and dynamic people in NTB to help revive tourism."

As one of the main foreign exchange earning industries, tourism contributes to about 4 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and gives direct and indirect employment to more than 300,000 people across the country.

Joy Dewan, President of Nepal Association of Travel Agents (NATA), hopes that tourism will be restored by the next winter. "We see some silver linings in the black cloud."

"Although the country is passing through a critical situation due to Maoist insurgency, the number of budget tourists has shot up since last month. The up-market tourists will come only when the situation comes to normalcy," says Dewan, general sales agent (GSA) of Qatar Airways, and Secretary General of Board of Airlines Representatives in Nepal (BARN).

With the tourist arrivals going down, some foreign airlines have stopped operating flights to Kathmandu.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, Vice-President of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), says that the government, NTB as well as the entrepreneurs have to continue to conduct promotional and marketing activities in the tourist generating markets.

"The Maoist insurgency has definitely affected tourism. But we can attract tourists if we visit the generating market and talk to the agents and convince them that tourist spots of Nepal are safe," Sherpa says.

Talking about the unreliability of the foreign airlines, he points out the need for strengthening the national carrier. "The private sector has to open an international airline to bring in tourists. The opening of such an airline will help consolidate RNAC as well since it has to compete with the new one."

Prakash Shrestha, Vice-President of HAN, says the government must prioritise the travel trade sector to revive it.

"The situation in Sri Lanka was not better than Nepal due to terrorism. But the Sri Lankan government gave top priority to tourism and revived it. Our government has to follow the suit," Shrestha says.

He says the government has to take up measures to give a boost to the ailing tourism industry.

Suman Pandey, President of Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN), says the Maoist terrorism needs to be stopped to bring tourism to a normal situation.

Today’s major problem is the Maoist insurgency. When it is settled, there is no doubt that Nepal will again be a safe and peaceful tourist destination. The holding of the 11th SAARC Summit successfully early this year has helped Nepal make known to the world as a safe destination. To revive tourism, the government has revised its tourism-related policies. It has opened more than 100 mountain peaks and reviewed visa fees.

Apart from these, some landmark events such as the Destination Nepal Campaign 2002/03, International Year of the Mountains, International Eco-Tourism year and the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Mt. Everest will be helpful in promoting Nepal’s tourism in the future.

Mishra gets ‘Award of Merit

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, April 21: The former Chairman of PATA Nepal Chapter and PATA Board Member Basant Raj Mishra has been awarded with the PATA ‘Award of Merit’.

This award is given to Mishra, Executive Chairman of Temple Tiger Group of Companies, in recognition of his contribution to PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) especially through its various committees and task forces.

The ‘Award of Merit’ is presented to members as a lifetime acknowledgement for the service rendered to PATA.

The other reciepient of the award was Dawn Drew, publisher of National Geographic Traveler for her leadership and strong commitment to PATA.

Asia-Pacific, hot new destinations for travel & tourism

Asia-Pacific destinations are expected to dominate economic growth in the travel and tourism industry over the next few years, but the cost of September 11 to the region’s industry has been severe, Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

Tourism economic research produced by the world Travel Tourism council WTTC, Tourism Satellite Accounts, shows that the industry in the Asia Pacific region has suffered badly due to the global impact of September 11, with an accumulative loss of 5.7 per cent in travel and tourism demand, and the loss of 4.4 million jobs equivalents, in years 2001 and 2002.

But WTTC expects the industry will rebound in 2003 with a massive growth rate of six per cent after a year of stabilisation and recovery in 2002. India, China, and many other nations within the region are expected to outperform other countries in the rest of the world.

Jean-Claude Baumgarten, President of the World Travel & Tourism Council, speaking at the 51st Annual Pacific Asia Travel Association conference in New Delhi, last week said "The impact of September 11 on the industry was unimaginable, but the industry has reacted positively and swiftly through cutting costs, creative advertising, innovative promotions and seeking out new market opportunities. In my mind 2002 is dedicated to stabilisation and recovery, and this process requires continued partnership between the private and public sectors."

In a first for the industry, WTTC has been able to identify and separate the different effects of the recession and September 11 on travel and tourism. Through its research, WTTC estimates the global impact of September 11 will cause a 7.4 per cent decline in travel-and-tourism-related demand in years 2001 and 2002 combined, which will result in a total worldwide loss to employment of over 10 million jobs. But WTTC is confident this downward trend is finite and an upswing will begin in the second half of 2002.

According to Baumgarten, a massive worldwide rebound will occur in 2003 with global travel and tourism demand forecast to increase in real terms by six per cent. "During this process we will see the creation of 6.8 million jobs, replacing most of the business and jobs lost in the extended wake of September 11," he says.

The research also shows a strong positive growth trend for the industry over the next decade with long term annual growth at 4.5 per cent for the global industry.

Turkey has pushed India out of its first place position as the world’s top growth country over the next decade, but WTTC say they won’t be surprised if India challenges Turkey next year to regain number one billing. India is expected to grow at a rate of 9.7 per cent over the next ten years, with China in third place with forecast growth of 8.5 per cent.

In another important category - job creation - China is ranked first, with growth in travel and tourism employment expected to create a phenomenal 9.3 million full-time job-equivalents over the next decade.

Each year the Council conducts detailed macroeconomic analysis of the travel and tourism industry in 160

countries, the World and its regions, focusing on factors including employment, demand, and contribution to GDP.

WTTC research is designed to implement the methodological framework for Tourism Satellite Accounting approved by the United Nations in 2000.

WTTC is the global business leaders’ forum for travel and tourism. Its members are chief executives from all sectors of the industry. Its central goal is to work with governments to realise the full economic impact of the industry. (WTTC)