Basant Raj Mishra   Executive Chairman, Temple Tiger (TemTig) Group of Companies Honorary Consul General of Chile in Nepal President, Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO)

Basant Raj Mishra set up his flagship company Temple Tiger in 1988, but he could not imagine then what an inappropriate time it was to start the business. As it turned out later, the year 1989 was full of political agitations. After a series of successful agitations to restore multiparty political system, there started labour unrests across all sectors of the economy. Then there was the Gulf War as well as an escalation of India-Pakistan tension and so on.

Despite those problems, his company as well as the tourism industry in the country registered comfortable growth. "But now the problem is serious", he thinks. And the solution to the problem lies in an assurance from all the parties involved in the present conflict that they would not disturb tourism, Mishra opines. Though the travel trade sector has asked for such assurance from all the parties concerned, no definite response has been received from any one of them, according to him.

But what were the specific factors that contributed for the success of his companies during 1990s? In his answer, Mishra lists down: dedicated staff, well planned marketing strategy, international contacts, leadership, vision and proper insight about people. A little account of his background would explain the experience better.

Despite being a scion of a family which had a tradition of the civil services, Mishra opted for the travel trade as he was impressed by it during his nearly five-month long holiday in Europe after he completed his graduation in Political Science and English Literature from Tribhuvan University. Why Europe? "Because most of the family members had already been there," he explains. Coming back home, he tried to appear for the Public Service Commission exams to become a civil servant, but landed up with a job in Gorkha Travels, which was then a very successful organisation. Though he was initially hired as a Tour Controller (a junior level position, as he says), he got an opportunity to do various types of work and from there germinated the idea of forming his own company.

Meanwhile, he received an offer from Tiger Tops for a managerial position. While working in this firm that ran a Tour Department handling inbound business, he later converted the department into a full fledged travel agency - Adventure Travel - in partnership with Tiger Tops and Mountain Travel in 1982.

Recalling the times when he first joined the travel trade sector, Mishra says in those days this field was highly respectable as a good command over English and a little international exposure was almost the only prerequisite to join it. As a result the people involved in travel trade generally consisted of the well-educated group only.

In 1988, he set out to establish his own group of travel and adventure related companies called Temple Tiger naming it after the celebrated tiger whom the renowned hunter Jim Corbett proclaimed he could never kill. The group now consists of Venture Travel, Venture Treks & Expedition; Mountain River Venture; Temple Tiger Jungle Lodge; Temple Tiger Trading House and Integrated Information Services. The last one is involved in Information Technology.

Mishra's initial business centred in the Chitwan National Park and some of his friends tried to discourage him from going ahead as the place was quite a hinterland then.  He had to begin right from the basic thoroughfare by lending support to construct 12 kilometres of road.  But he was successful and he attributes it to the fact that he got an opportunity to involve the local community and local politicians thus gaining their trust and respect. As he recalls, he also helped the local schools, conducted frequent health camps and made the company conveyance available for the local people in case of medical emergencies, all of which the company still provides. On top of that, he employed local underprivileged people in his company except in the very senior positions. "They have turned out to become excellent workers as they were very good learners," he proudly declares.

Regarding the present tourism industry scenario and the efforts being made for its promotion, Mishra complains of the complacent nature of the Nepalis. "When we reached almost about half a million arrivals in a year, we became complacent while others, the late starters in this field, have done much better. We simply do not try to improve". However, unlike many tourism entrepreneurs who are only complaining of the lack of governmental effort,  Mishra is generous in giving the government credit for joining hands with the private sector for international promotion, establishing  the Nepal Tourism Board, but he also adds that this field is not properly nurtured by the government.

He regards tourism as a field neglected by the policy makers. The mindset of bureaucrats that takes tourism for granted and their half-hearted support to this sector has left the industry lagging behind. Citing another factor for this, he adds "the reason may be that while the Tourism Ministry cannot stand by itself, and it has to get favour from all other ministries, no other ministry needs to wait for any favour from the Tourism Ministry".

"At the same time, tourism is such an industry, which can never progress in isolation, though it remains the only stable industry ever. Even in such a period of crisis, the industry is sustaining itself.  If it were recognised in every speech of the political leaders and if only their verbal assurances could be converted into reality then this industry would have recorded a phenomenal growth," he says.

Mishra is a firm believer that without having a successful national carrier it will be difficult to have a sizeable growth in tourism. "The role of the national carrier is even more important during times of crisis. Moreover, apart from tourism, for a landlocked country like Nepal where there is neither railroad service nor good highways, air travel remains the only mode of accessibility. It is important to acknowledge that the entire economy of the country depends on the airline. Further this has to be kept alive for international airlines to remain operating here and not return due to lack of market share, as has happened already," says Mishra.

One cannot take this lightly in jest, as it comes from a person who has been a consultant in various tourism and environment conservation projects in so diverse countries as Thailand, Australia (city of Cairns) and Malaysia and an active participant in decision matters relating to tourism in the country.

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