Destination Nepal Campaign
The Last Trump
by Navin Singh Khadka
Miseries don't come alone. Who has understood that better than the Nepali
tourism industry? Particularly, in the last one year time span. It was
during that time frame, that series of incidents rocked the nation further
denting the already shaky image of the national travel trade. Then took
place the adverse-affect-making international developments like the September
11 attacks in the US followed by the war in Afghanistan. All these have
caused the tourism reach an all time low in recent times.
This has been the backdrop for the latest tourism promotional campaign
- Destination Nepal Campaign (DNC) 2002 - a plan that the government had
designed almost two years ago. The idea, however, still remains sketchy.
And, alarmingly, it is already the fag end of the year 2001.
All that the officials at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil
Aviation (MoCTCA) have about the campaign is a vague explanation - the
preparation is underway. And that is that.
According to a DNC draft plan prepared by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB),
the board had suggested the MoCTCA one and a half years ago to form a
working committee to coordinate among different ministries for this new
promotional extravaganza.
The plan also talks about running different events - including a meeting
of international tour operators to be held in the capital, honoring all
Everest Summiteers, a travel mart among others - as part of the DNC. "The
fundamental idea is to promote Nepal as a destination," said Pradeep Raj
Pandey, Chief Executive Officer of NTB.
The board's officials say, they would be pretty happy to implement the
DNC if the ministry entrusts them with the responsibility. "But we have
not received any instruction as such."
The government, in its annual budget this year, even allocated Rs. 30
million for the campaign. But, the ministry, according to the officials,
still does not have a concrete plan on how to spend the money.
DNC has already been delayed once. Earlier slated to begin on January
1, 2002, the planned event - then under the banner of Destination Nepal
Year - was postponed for June 2002, to be observed together with the golden
jubilee celebration of the first ascent of Mountain Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest).
While making that decision in March earlier this year, MoCTCA had reasoned
that tourism industry was suffering from too many problems including the
frequent shut down strikes called by different leftist political parties.
That was when tourism entrepreneurs had scoffed at the government's
explanation on the postponement of the DNC. They charged that the delay
resulted because of the government's apathy toward the program.
The accusation still remains. "There is no groundwork yet for the event,"
they say. "If this is how they go, they should not have at all floated
the idea."
Knowledgeable observers claim that a proper homework for the DNC would
have definitely gone well with two promising international events - the
International Year of Mountain and the Eco Tourism Year, both declared
by the United Nations for 2002.
Since both of these planned events appear directly relevant to Nepal's
image as an adventure tourism destination, DNC would have been the right
trump card to play for the 2002, they say. More than 30 percent of the
total annual tourist arrival - recorded at around 500,000 in recent years
- is either trekkers or mountaineers.
The International Year of Mountain next year will mark important meetings
in the capital that would formulate policies for the sustainable development
on mountains. Similarly, the Eco-Tourism Year is certain to put the country
on the centre-stage of the international event.
Not to talk about its mesmerising views of the snow-clad towering mountains
- that comprise significant chunk of the package for sightseeing tourists
- the country has 16 different protected areas covering around 20 percent
of the nation's area.
Add to that the government's recent decision to declare two mountains
- Phulchowki and Chandragiri - in the mountain rim circling the Capital
Valley as conservation areas. This speaks volume about how eco-tourism
is working in the country.
Crowned with smash-hit stories like that of the Annapurna Conservation
Area Project, the country could increasingly become "crowd-puller" among
eco-friendly visitors.
But for that the country needs to take some initiatives. And that is
where the DNC idea would have rightly fitted. If only there were proper
homework for the publicity campaign, the national travel trade could cash
in on the two international events.
But since nothing of that sort is happening, tourism entrepreneurs are
left wondering how could they benefit from the events declared by the
UN. "We should be informed about the events if they are directly related
to us," said Suman Pandey, President of Trekking Agents Association of
Nepal (TAAN). "So far, we have no idea on what would be happenings during
the events."
That is very bad news for a country now reeling under the hardship of
rapidly dwindling tourist arrivals. The last 11 months, for instance,
witnessed more than 17 percent decrease in tourist arrivals compared to
the corresponding period last year - an ample ominous signal for a country
that once had the plan of ushering in one million tourists by 2000.
So, are policy-makers and planners waiting for the worse?
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