NATIONAL8 (Spotlight Weekly]

A Fateful Year

Despite a series of severe blows, entrepreneurs refuse to give up hope

By BHAGIRATH YOGI

The year 2001 did not bode well for Nepal's tourism sector. As it was yet to overcome the shocks of the hijacking of Indian Airlines plane from Kathmandu on Christmas eve in 1999 and the 'Hrithik Roshan' episode in December 2000, the royal palace tragedy on June 1, 2001 came as the biggest blow to the Nepalese hospitality industry. Worse, the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11 and the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan forced many people in the industry out of work.

Tourist arrivals in December 2001 declined by a whopping 55 percent compared to the same period the previous year. Though the total decline in arrival in the year 2000 was modest (nearly 17 percent), entrepreneurs say it will take them long to recover from the recent jolts.

Tourists in Kathmandu : Tumultous time

According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a public-private venture that aims to sell Nepal as a premier tourist destination, over 298,000 tourists visited Nepal by air in 2001, out of which number of Indian visitors was only 64,000. Earlier, Indian tourists constituted nearly one-third of the total arrivals.

This year's arrival figure is far less than the target of bringing in 500,000 tourists a year by the end of the 20th century, which was set by the Visit Nepal Year 1998. In 1999, total tourist arrival was relatively higher at over 376,000.

One of the biggest foreign-currency earning sectors of the country, the hospitality industry directly employs nearly 300,000 people. "From vegetable growers to transport workers, everybody benefits from tourism," insists Jai Dewan, President of Nepal Association of Travel Agents. "The Nepalese economy has benefited a lot from forward- and backward-linkages of tourism."

Nepal earned foreign currency worth US$ 168 million in 1999. Officials hope to earn up to US$ 231 million in 2003. Of course, this will need introduction of new products, vigorous marketing and, on top of that, a relatively peaceful environment. "Since its inception three years back, the NTB has played an important role in selling Nepal in the world tourism market and identifying and developing new tourist destinations within the country," said Pradip Raj Pandey, chief executive officer of the NTB. "There is immense potential for tourism to contribute to socio-economic development of the country much more than what it is doing now. For this, we will have to sell Nepal as a premier destination in the global tourism market."

The year 2001 also struck an optimistic note with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the governments of Nepal and China to bring in Chinese tourists. "Even a fraction of 120 million tourists who travel to the selected outbound countries every year could inject new life in Nepal's tourism," said Shanker Koirala, joint secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. "Of course, we need to work hard to develop appropriate infrastructure and new products to suit their interests."

With the decline in international air travel in the aftermath of terrorist attacks in the United States and the recent decision of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to discontinue its services to Nepal following India's announcement that it would not allow PIA into its airspace, the days ahead for Nepal's tourism industry are anything but smooth. "Good planning, coordinated approach between the government and private sector and aggressive marketing with focus within the region could revive our tourism industry," said Basanta Raj Mishra, honorary secretary of Nepal Association of Tour Operators.

Thanks to the continuous lobbying by the tourism industry, the government announced a package to revive the sector last week. It includes partial waiver in visa fees, opening up of over 100 peaks for climbing and simplification of other procedures. Besides, the hoteliers are lobbying for a package to re-schedule their loans from the banks. Given the latest initiative on part of the government and pro-active role played by the private sector, there may be some room for optimism in the new year 2002, provided hoteliers themselves don't slam their doors on the guests amid threats of strikes by their employees ó a unique feature of the year 2001, indeed.