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COVER STORY |
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COVER STORY |
TOURISM After the 9/11 incident and
successive targeting by terrorists on ësoft targets', the global wanderers have begun to
stay away from far-away destinations triggering a palpable shift in the international
trend. With the persisting drop in the long-haul traffic, countries have started focusing
on regional tourism. Sandwiched between two Asian giants — India and China —
Nepal could benefit a lot if it can promote regional tourism. Already the government has
announced a number of initiatives like waiving visa fees for tourists from the SAARC
region and China in a clear bid to lure the tourists from the neighborhood. However, more
needs to be done both from the government as well as the tourism entrepreneurs to cash in
on the new trend By SANJAYA DHAKAL Tourism in Nepal has always been equated
with western tourists coming to trek or climb mountains. Till a couple of years ago,
people scoffed at the idea of regional tourism. For some reason people did not consider
Indians who came to pay homage to Lord Pashupatinath or who came on shopping spree as
proper tourists. Things have changed now. With the global
trend pointing to the growth of regional tourism, all countries have started making
strategy to lure people from their neighborhood. Nepal has been no exception.
In fact, Nepal's geographical
location could be turned into its big advantage. With the emergence of India and China as
global economic giants, there is a tremendous possibility for Nepal to cash in the new
trend. Indians are regarded as one of the most
spendthrift tourists in the world. And the Indian market is so huge that there is every
kind of tourists there — those who love shopping, those who love adventures and those
who are religiously inclined. The weather, culture and proximity are plus points to
attract Indians. Likewise, China is the fastest growing
market and millions of Chinese venture out of their country every year. Nepal could easily
tap these resources to its advantage. Government Initiatives The government made it clear that it gives
high importance to regional tourism when it announced a number of initiatives at this
year's budget. Finance Minister Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani
proposed a number of incentives to trigger the influx of tourists from the neighborhood.
The government has waived the visa fee for tourists coming from China and SAARC countries
— Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Indian citizens already enjoy
the privilege of non-requirement of visa to come to Nepal. The government aims to lure 200,000
tourists from SAARC and China alone this year. This is a remarkable target given the fact
that the total number of tourists that visited Nepal in 2002 was just around 250,000.
"This is not an unachievable
target. Look at how the Indian tourist arrival is growing in the last couple of
months," said Yogendra Sakya, a renowned hotelier and director of Nepal Tourism Board
(NTB). (see box) Unveiling his new ideas for the tourism
development, Sarbendra Nath Shukla, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation had
recently said that he plans to concentrate on generating tourists from the region. "We are also looking into the
possibility of turning Kathmandu into a transit hub," he said. Growth In Indian Market In the last couple of months, the arrival
of tourists from India has registered an impressive growth. The substantial growth in the
number of Indian tourists has pushed the overall tourist arrivals for the month of July.
According to Nepal Tourism Board, the arrival of Indian tourists, by air, increased by a
whopping 41 percent compared to the same period last year. The growth of Indian
tourists is remarkable when compared to mere 22 percent rise in third country tourist
arrivals. Altogether 17, 611 tourists visited the
country in the month — 8578 being the Indians. The arrival of Indian tourists has
continued to increase this year. In the month of June also, NTB recorded 40 percent growth
in Indian tourist arrivals. The sustained tourism promotion program in Indian cities and
the massive publicity earned during the Everest golden jubilee celebrations are believed
to have helped boost the arrivals. India has always been the most important
tourist-generating country for Nepal. Because of open border and non-requirement of visa,
the Indian traffic has always chosen Nepal as one of the most preferred destination.
Indian public viewed Nepal as an exotic destination and equated it with the Switzerland.
Kathmandu, Pokhara and Nagarkot were often chosen as preferred destination for
honey-mooners.
All that changed in 1999 when
terrorists hijacked New Delhi-bound Indian airlines flight and took it to Kandahar in
Afghanistan. The subsequent media reporting blamed Nepal and blew the story out of
proportion, which marred the image of Nepal. Worse, the following year a strange
anti-India riots took place in streets of Kathmandu when Bollywood heart-throb Hrithik
Roshan was attributed to have made some anti-Nepal remarks, which he denied of ever
making. The free fall of volume of Indian tourists
was particularly responsible for the dismal state of Nepal's tourism in the subsequent
years. Nepal's case was not helped by growing insecurity, palace massacres and many other
international events. It was only in 2003 that the trend finally
began to reverse. With the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) hitting the South East
Asian countries, Nepal re-emerged in the picture. Coupled with extensive marketing promotion
campaign launched by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), lessening of air fares and positive vibes
generated by successful Everest golden jubilee celebrations, the Indian traffic began to
swell. "If this trend continues, the Indian traffic will revert to the original
track," said an official at the NTB. According to Yogendra Sakya, a renowned
hotelier and director of NTB, in good years, around 130,000 Indian tourists visit, by air,
Nepal. "Compare this to the total tourist arrival of around 250,000 in 2002 and you
will understand the importance of Indian tourists," he said. Chinese Prospects Two years ago Nepalese tourism
entrepreneurs were excited after Chinese government enlisted Nepal in its Approved
Destination Status. The talks of thousands of Chinese tourists flooding Nepalese market
just didn't happen. "It was a sort of rude awakening for
Nepalese tourism entrepreneurs. It seems that we have been unable to devise suitable
packages to lure Chinese tourists," said Hari Man Lama, chief executive of Incentive
Tours. Sakya adds that most Chinese tourists
prefer pleasure tourism, which includes bars, discos, nightclubs and so on. "We
cannot compete in that front as we are not tuned to that kind of tourism," he said. However, Sakya said that a small percent of
Chinese tourists are also attracted to soft adventure and culture tourism. "Even
attracting that small faction of Chinese market could mean a lot to us."
Besides, lack of adequate flights has
also hampered the growth of Chinese tourists. Currently, Sarbendra Nath Shukla, Minister
for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is in Beijing to make deals regarding the flights
between the two countries. Although it is a close neighbor, only two
percent of tourists coming to Nepal are from China. In the year 2002, only 3490 (2 percent
of the total tourists) visited Nepal from China (by air) compared to 65,629 from India,
the other giant neighbor. The sheer size of Chinese tourist market is
enough to make anybody drool. The number of Chinese visiting foreign countries has reached
10.41 million in 2000 and the number is growing rapidly every year. According to the World
Tourism Organization (WTO), China will be the topmost destination and fourth largest
tourist generating market by 2020. China officially enlisted Nepal as an
out-bound destination for its citizens nearly two years ago. The Nepalese government has
already recognized 78 travel agencies for the purpose of handling Chinese tourists.
Likewise, the Chinese government has recognized 67 Chinese travel agencies for the similar
purpose. Although Nepal was the first country to
enjoy the privilege of Approved Destination Status in South Asian region, it could not
cash it. Besides, the tourism authorities of the two
countries have reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for mutual co-operation to
develop tourism in the both countries opening myriad of avenues for the Nepalese tourism
industry. Early this year, SARS scare exposed how
vulnerable the global tourism is and how, Nepal, too, could not remain aloof. "The SARS-triggered closure of the
Nepal-Tibet border and restriction in the movement of tourists hurt Nepalese tourism in
this summer season. Hundreds of foreigners used to fly to Tibet during this season,"
said Nima Nuru Sherpa, chief of the Cho Oyu treks and vice president of Trekking Agents
Association of Nepal (TAAN). Apart from foreign tourists, hundreds of
Nepalese and Indian also travel through Nepalese border to make the pilgrimage tour to Mt.
Kailash and Mansarovar. New Approach Nepalese tourism entrepreneurs have said
that there is a need to adopt new strategies to attract more tourists from the region. For
starters, to attract Chinese tourists, the operators will need to devise packages that are
suitable and of interest to them. More important, is the need to diversify
the Indian market. Till now, Indians have been considered as tourists who enjoy visiting
casinos and doing shopping. "But this is no more true. There are lots of Indian who
love adventure tourism. We need to attract them," said Sakya. Besides, a large number of Indian could be
attracted for religious tourism. The temple of Pashupatinath is one of the most revered
shrines for all Hindus. Likewise, Muktinath and various other holy sites in Nepal can
attract a lot more Indians. The NTB has already joined hands with the Pashupati Area
Development Trust (PADT) to focus on this aspect. Despite the existence of Lumbini, the
birthplace of Lord Buddha, in Nepal, the authorities have not been able to draw Buddhist
crowd in a big way. The plan to construct international airport in Lumbini is yet to take
off. In fact, Thai Airways International (TAI)
is planning to launch new Royal Orchid Holidays destinations in Nepal including Lumbini.
"We are particularly excited about Lumbini. Thai will operate special flights to
cover holy Buddhist circuits. We hope to pull Buddhist tourists from places like Japan,
Taiwan and other South East Asian countries," said Viroj Sirihorachai, general
manager of TAI for Nepal and Bhutan. These apart, there is an urgent need to
re-work the existing tourism packages. "For far too long the tour operators have been
employing the same old two day/three nights packages with no value addition. If nothing
else, we could at least use creativity to re-design them to make it more attractive,"
said Sakya. He has already received favorable responses from the tourists after he
re-packaged his programs. Then there is the question of crisis
management. In the last few years, Nepalese tourism ran from post to pillar pushed by a
series of national as well as international events. Even this year the Iraq war and SARS
torpedoed any hopes Nepal had of improvement in tourism after the January 30 ceasefire
between the government and the Maoists. These were all crises that haunted the
country's tourism sector. "Nepalese tourism had to endure these crises one after
another. While the prevention of crises is the best option, it is not always possible. And
in such cases a country has to have plan B ready," said minister Shukla. "Crises are not always threats.
Sometimes they even pose opportunity. For instance, Nepal should have projected itself as
a SARS free tourist destination when the international media termed the whole Asia as
being inflicted with the disease. But we could not do so because we never knew how to deal
with the problem," said the minister who plans to put in place a cell of spin-doctors
who will know how to deal with crisis situation. "When crises are hitting us one
after another, we have no option but to go for crisis management," said the minister. At a time when the peace talks is
precariously poised, there is a need for the country to have strategies to deal with any
kind of uncertain situation. |
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