NATIONAL 5 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Downward Spiral

Recurring street violence and chronic political instability batter Nepal’s vital tourism industry

By KESHAB POUDEL

When the first flight of Qatar Airways arrived on Wednesday May 30, the plane, which was supposed to have more than 70 percent occupancy, had only 40 passengers. Of them, there were only four foreign tourists.

Tourists in street : Confused ?

As soon as the four tourists moved towards the arrival lane after immigration and customs formalities, they found themselves swarmed by two dozens taxi drivers and almost an equal number of hotel representatives. "We have to wait the whole day to get a trip of Rs.200. If the situation remains unstable, the families of more than five hundred workers at the airport will have to starve," said Sita Ram Giri, a taxi driver. "It is the primary duty of political parties to teach their cadres how to maintain order in society."

Tens of thousands of people whose livelihoods rest on the tourism industry share Giri’s worries. In the aftermath of the frequent street battles and riots of the last few years, tourist bookings from India and other countries have plummeted. From five-star hotels to the small lodges in Thamel, room occupancy has plunged from 40\50 percent to virtually zero.

Activities in tourism-related sectors have almost come to a standstill. There is a sense of emptiness in many places that once buzzed with people from around the world. Worse, nobody knows whether Nepal’s tourism industry would be able to revive itself.

"One of the biggest achievement of Nepal was [its reputation as a] tranquil and peaceful destination with humble people in the mountain. Nepal is fast losing all its unique characters in the last few years," said Yajna Raj Satyal in a recent book. "Nepal has a to go a long and difficult way to prove that it is really safe for tourists."

Others are less gloomy, seeing the possibility of the tourism industry recovering lost ground fairly soon. Amid the infrastructure and facilities available in the country, they say, Nepal may not have to wait very long for the recovery to take place.

If the trends of the last two years are any indication, however, Nepal is losing its reputation as a peaceful and tranquil destination for tourists. The negative publicity the country is getting in the international media is partly responsible for the slump.

One of the major challenges for Nepal’s tourism authorities and entrepreneurs is finding ways of raising the inflow of tourists. All concerned parties need to work in unison to revive the industry before it sinks deeper into the mire of apathy.

According to reports, more than 37.8 percent of the tourists visiting Nepal come through organized tours. Among them, about 16 percent seemed to come with friends. About 32 percent come on self-guided tours and about 15 percent visit through semi-organized tours.

According to a study conducted by Hari Prasad Shrestha, the highest number of visitors to Nepal — 43.7 percent — made their travel plans about three to six months in advance. About 30 percent of the visitors planned their trip between one and two months before their arrival. Similarly, 23.9 percent made their plan between six months and one year in advance. "This shows that most of the visitors coming to Nepal made plans at least six months in advance," said Shrestha in his book, "Tourism in Nepal: Marketing Challenges". This makes it clear that even the slightest disturbance in Nepal would have negative effects on tourist inflow over the long term.

Although Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has initiated market promotional activities in different parts of the world, including in India and Japan, its activities have been set back by the growing perception of Nepal as a violent and unstable destination.

"The frequent bandhs and other violent activities have already damaged Nepal’s reputation in the international tourism market. We have time and again requested major political parties, which are supposed work for the betterment of the country, not to launch any program that would damage the image of tourism industry," said Narendra Bajracharya, president of Hotel Association Nepal. "Unfortunately, everyone has turned a deaf ear to us."

Department of Immigration records show a drastic fall in tourist arrivals from India and other countries. This decline has had a knock-on effect on several other areas of the economy.

If the situation fails to improve, hoteliers say they are not in a position to pay back interest on loans they received from commercial banks. "How can we pay back the interest when we don’t have anything to pay," said a hotelier on condition of anonymity. "No one can rescue us as long as we Nepalis do not bother about our problems."

It is said that some hotels in Kathmandu and Pokhara are planning to close down indefinitely. While this step is expected to save millions of rupees for beleaguered hotel owners, the message it sends is clear: Nepal’s tourism industry is in a very critical period and nobody knows how long it will take for things to improve.

Nepal’s tourism crisis began after the hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight to New Delhi from Tribhuvan International Airport in December 1999. Following the hijacking, Indian Airlines suspended its entire operations in Nepal. That move led to a drastic fall in tourist arrivals, particularly Indian visitors.

Although Indian Airlines resumed its flights six months later, the situation has not become normal. New regulations requiring Indian nationals to carry their passport or other official identification document and the ban on travelers from carrying Indian Rs 500 banknotes have discouraged Indian tourists from visiting Nepal.

In a restuarant : Feeling safe

Weeks after Indian Airlines resumed its flights, stories of bird hitting aircraft at the airport grabbed the headlines. Although birds actually hit no more than two aircraft, national newspapers were full of stories about how dangerous Nepal’s only international airport had become. Some major international newspapers picked up the story with disastrous effect.

After the bird-hits seemed to recede from the papers, hotel workers launched a strike demanding the imposition of 10 percent service charges on guests. In response, owners of Kathmandu’s hotels locked up their premises for a day. Because of the hotel workers’ strike, many tour groups sent in last-minute cancellations.

As the hotel row appeared to be softening, protests triggered by unsubstantiated remarks attributed Indian film start Hrithik Roshan rocked Kathmandu, leaving a trail of death and destruction. The so-called "Hrithik episode" helped to portray Nepal as a hostile destination for Indian tourists. Despite the widespread acknowledgement in India that the Nepalese people were friendly towards Indians because of, among other things, their shared religious and cultural heritage, the fury and intensity of the anti-Hrithik protests were enough to convey a negative message.

Amid this crippling of the tourism industry, five left parties, including the main opposition CPN-UML, last month called a three-day Nepal bandh to press for Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s resignation over his alleged involvement in a tainted aircraft deal. Despite repeated request from industrialists not to adopt such an economically suicidal course, the opposition alliance went ahead with their 72-hour shutdown.

If Nepal’s tourism industry were to collapse, the country would lose a source of direct employment for tens of thousands of people. Hundreds of thousands of others would face indirect consequences.

If Nepal’s political parties join hands to achieve national stability, there still might be some hope for the tourism sector. For this to happen, political leaders have to acknowledge the fact that they can no longer ignore the consequences their negative actions bring.