NATIONAL 6 -(Spotlight Weekly)]

Struck By Politics

Hopes of stability in the hotel industry are dashed by the announcement of new political protests

By KESHAB POUDEL

Hoteliers and restaurant owners at Nagarkot have seen an unusually low number of tourists turning out during the first half of this year. The idyllic hill resort, 25 km east of the Kathmandu, has remained a popular attraction for tourists who want to see the sunrise.

The hotel-owners are particularly worried by the decline in Indian tourist arrivals, especially since it is this group that fills the vacuum during the off season. After the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane in December 1999, the Indian and Nepalese government agreed to introduce an identification system for air travellers as part of tighter security measures. Air travellers from India and Nepal have to show either a voter ID card, passport, citizenship certificate or any document establishing their identification.

Tourists in town : Uncertainty continues

That stipulation has hit businesses in places like Nagarkot real hard "Business at hotels and restaurants is much below expectations," said a restaurant owner in the resort. "This time of the year normally used to be full of honeymooning Indian couples, who spent as much as foreign tourists."

The ban imposed by New Delhi on the carrying of Indian Rs 500 banknotes to Nepal and Bhutan has also discouraged Indian tourists from visiting this country. The decision has forced many Indian tourists to carry bundles of Indian Rs 100 notes to visit in Nepal. With all these new inconveniences, many Indians feel they have better destinations on offer outside South Asia.

Nepal’s tourism officials are in a damage-control mode. "We are organizing various types of tourism promotion fairs in India," said Tek Bahadur Dangi, director of marketing and promotion at the Nepal Tourism Board. "We have already started marketing programs in various Indian cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Madras and Bangalore."

A day after hotel workers suspended their strike and people began expecting some normalcy in the tourism sector, the country confronted another potential source of instability. The announcement of a Nepal Bandh by the student wing of the CPN-ML and Nepal Communist Party (Maoists) and the political agitation launched by the main opposition party CPN-UML and four other communist parties have cast a new round of uncertainty over the upcoming tourism season.

After the restoration of democracy, Nepal’s tourism industry has faced several rounds of instability but has managed to limp on. With the advent of the new millennium, frequent new jolts have all but destroyed what was once regarded as the Himalayan kingdom’s most lucrative industry.

Despite the current respite, the tourism sector may be rocked by new problems at any time, as trade union groups have already decided to legally challenge the government decision’s to bring the hotel and restaurant sector under the Essential Services Act.

"It seems that Nepal’s tourism sector has become a target of a well-planned conspiracy," said a tourism entrepreneur. "Although every political party knows how important the tourism sector is to the country and hotel workers understand its significance for their personal development, why are they promoting such activities?"

The hoteliers lost the first round of the battle at the Lalitpur Appellate Court, which declined to issue an interim order to prevent strikes in hotels. Because of the court decision, the hotel industry was closed down for a day.

"We don’t feel secure yet, but for the time being, disturbances have been averted," said Madhav Om Shrestha, executive secretary of Hotel Association Nepal. " The workers will also understand the challenges faced by us."

The trade union workers, however, see the government’s decision to invoke the Essential Services Act as unfair and are holding consultations before mounting a challenge in court. "The government’s decision is against the verdict of the court, which has established the right of workers organize strikes," said Bishnu Rimal, joint coordinator of the hotel workers’ joint agitation committee. "We will challenge the government’s decision."

The months of March and April constitute the main tourist season and any agitation launched by the country’s major political parties will disrupt the entire industry. Ironically, political parties, which tirelessly claim to be the saviour of the poor, are playing a game to destroy a sector that is one of the largest sources of jobs and foreign currency in one of the world’s poorest countries.