National 8 (Spotlight Weekly)

Losing Focus

By scattering its limited budget across various sectors, critics fear, the DNC might defeat the basic objective of the initiative

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

The tourism sector lays in tatters today. There is no area of tourism left untouched by the tumultuous events of the last few years. As such, a massive relief and recovery package to inject a fresh lease of life was becoming increasingly necessary.

After the success of Visit Nepal Year (VNY) 1998, the country needed another big event to soar the dying spirits of the tourism entrepreneurs. Against this backdrop, the announcement of the Destination Nepal Campaign 2003 has been positively acknowledged by the industry.

Tourists : Welcoming with open arms

But given the resource crunch, the government naturally is hard pressed to open its purses. It has apportioned Rs. 28 million for organizing various programs associated with the DNC.

Compared to its budget, the objectives of the DNC appear ambitious, say entrepreneurs. The DNC aims to achieve everything from raising awareness to infrastructure development and from destination promotion to international marketing.

"The basic objective of the DNC is to give a fresh impetus to the tourism industry and establish Nepal as a primary tourist destination. It aims to raise awareness inside the country, increase tourist traffic, promote new destinations and so on," said Tek Bahadur Dangi, Director of Tourism Marketing and Promotion, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

The DNC, among other things, aim to bring in half a million tourists the next year. "While the target may seem ambitious, we have arrived at the figure after taking into accounts various factors. We hope to achieve it depending upon the national and international circumstances and travel trends," said Dangi.

Response from the private sector to the initiative has been largely one of "cautious optimism". They agree that something like this campaign is imperative to revive the sagging industry but they also point out lacunae in the present handling of the DNC.

"Definitely, the government had to do something to revive the industry and, as such, the DNC is a welcome sign. But the thing is they need to change the objective of the DNC," said Yogendra Shakya, a prominent tourism entrepreneur and executive chairman of Ace Hotels and Resorts. Shakya, who is also close to NTB, said that "though the objectives of the DNC are all correct, they need to be fine-tuned to suit the present time."

Shakya believes that instead of scattering its attention, the DNC should focus on few reas to become successful. "There is no need to raise awareness anymore. I think the people are already knowledgeable about tourism sector. Maybe we should rather think of improving our image by giving special attention and facilities to tourists who are coming here. Word of mouth has been of great help in the past to Nepal and we need to cash it now."

Agrees Hari Man Lama, chief executive officer of Incentive Travels and San Sui Treks and Expedition. "Even in the sector of international marketing, we would do better if we focused on certain countries only instead of going across the board. People in countries like USA, European countries and Japan already have certain image about Nepal and it makes more sense to focus there," he said. He suggested that the government gave special discounts (in handling charges and so on) to international airlines so that they would be prompted to operate here.

Meanwhile, the government is yet to adopt the programs for the DNC even as the event remains less than four months away. "How can DNC succeed in achieving its target when it has not been able even to set its programs yet?" asked another entrepreneur. "Time is running out and they must get their acts together quickly if they dream of successful DNC."

As the tourist arrival figures continue to show dismal trend, tourism entrepreneurs are ridden with anxiety and fear of future. The July figures showed that tourist arrivals plummeted by 37 percent compared to the same month last year. Add to that the fact that tourist arrival in July last year was very miserable.