‘The Number One Reason For The Success Of Tourism Here Is The People Of Nepal’

— Robin Marston

Robin Marston is the Director of Fulbari Express (P) Limited. A veteran of tourism industry of Nepal, Marston has been involved in the industry for the last two and a half decades. He worked in Mountain Travels and Summit Hotel before joining Fulbari Resorts & Spa. He spoke to KESHAB POUDEL and SANJAYA DHAKAL on various issues relating to trekking and tourism in the country. Excerpts:

As you are one of the pioneers of trekking in Nepal, how do you find the present state of this adventure tourism in the country?

I wouldn't say I was one of the pioneers. Rather I belong to the second generation. My mentor Colonel Jimmy Roberts who founded Mountain Travels in 1962 was one of the pioneers. I did not join until 1978 by which time the adventure travel market was already well set up particularly the jungle safari and mountain trekking aspects. In 1977,  Mountain Travel had formed Himalayan River Expedition. This was the first river running company in Nepal. We had some young American experts who trained the first batch of Nepalese river runners. Concerning Nepalīs Tourism situation, we can name a whole series of trials and tribulations that Nepal has gone through starting from December 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines 814 from Kathmandu, the so-called Hrithik Roshan riots in 2000, beginning of Maoist troubles, the awful and tragic June 1 royal massacre, the infamous 9/11 in America, all this coupled with complicated political scenario, then to the build up to the Afghanistan, the India-Pakistan confrontation, leading up to the Iraq war and rising casualties from the  Maoist problems. To top it all this year they thought of SARS, which had a huge impact to Nepal, and has now led to the closing of the Tibet border, which will inevitably affect Katmandu Travel agents, and hotels through the normal Tibet season May- Oct. This keeps a number of people employed through the summer months. So Nepal has gone from 1998 when 450,000 people visited the country to the 2002/2003 season when around 220,000 only came. The impact of this on employment is probably the most serious aspect in many ways - particularly the daily wage earning people like porters and guides. The setback to employment caused by this downturn has affected the lives of everyone in the industry.

How come you became involved in the trekking sector in Nepal?

I was very fortunate in my previous career when I served in the British Army to be selected to come and join the British Gurkhas based in Singapore. That was in January 1962. In October 1962, I had a very interesting job as an officer-in-charge of gold escort bringing the gold bought by people on leave and pensions up from Singapore to Nepal. That was my first visit to Nepal and I had always wanted to come back. When I finally left the army after 21 years as a Major, I luckily met Jim Edwards of Tiger Tops and had the opportunity to come and join Mountain Travel. My wife Wendy and I drove overland from the UK in Spring 1978, and our daughter Alison was born here that July.

What changes have you noticed in the trekking sector in the country in the last few decades?

In trekking, the biggest change has been, without a doubt, in the quantity and quality of the tea-houses or lodges available particularly in the main trekking areas. I was up in the Khumbu area last November and although I used to do a lot of tented treks, nowadays if good lodges are available, I prefer their warmth, electricity, and comfort. These days, the lodges up there in Khumbu or Jomsom areas have improved greatly, and there are a number of hotels in the hills also such as the Jomsom Mountain Resort. Big investments like these have been made. But more important have been the growth of smaller lodges and their inclination to improve quality and reinvest the money they have made.

Recently, Nepal celebrated the golden jubilee of Everest ascent amid great fanfare. How effective, do you think, such celebrations will be to boost the tourism in the country?

I think they are important in terms of press coverage and public relations. Sir Edmund Hillary attracts tremendous press coverage around the world. I just heard from a friend in America who attended his dinner with 1200 people in San Francisco, which was a fund-raiser for the Himalayan Foundation and Sir Hillary's own Himalayan Trust. There has been a lot of good press coverage. Hopefully, it will give us a kick-start with all problems behind us now. So long as politics here will sort out, the ceasefire is maintained, and we have law and order, we can look forward to better times.

Sir Edmund Hillary has said that it is time Nepalese government imposed restriction on the number of Everest climbers. Do you think the same is true as far as trekking in popular routes are concerned?

I am not for too many restrictions unless there are no other options. I rather liked what Reinhold Messner said when he proposed that permissions be given to climb Everest to those who have climbed at least one or two other 8000 m plus mountains. That would also give exposure to other mountains. It would need the co-operation of the autonomous region of Tibet to make this work. On the trekking side, I do not see any need for restriction. I don't think there is too much pressure on the trekking routes at present. I think it will build up like it did in the Alps. When people find too many people taking the same route, they will begin to spread out automatically. But there is no doubt that when people come to Nepal, the first thing they will have heard about is Everest and Annapurna and that is where they would want to go. But the fourth or fifth time trekker will go to other areas. If we get more trekkers coming back, those  other areas will become more popular. A lot of new areas have been opened as well. There are now only a few restricted areas like in Mustang and Dolpo. It is fair enough as these areas lie  ecologically in very fragile regions.

What is your view on how good Nepal is as a trekking destination?

Nepal  for visitors is a place of "what's good when". If you come to Nepal in January and February there are many places to go like Annapurna, Lamjung,or Helambu. But if you want to go trekking in June, there is good trekking at high altitudes such as the Khumbu, Dolpo, or Mustang. People should  not feel they have to come in Oct/Nov, or Mar/Apr only. In the last 25 years I have been on 34 different treks, but there still are areas I have yet to visit. Most of the routes are very good. Trekking in Nepal is wonderful.

Nepal pioneered the concept of trekking in the world. How do you see its future?

In fact, it wasn't just the trekking that Nepal had the original concept for. It was adventure tourism as a whole, which started in Nepal. Now it is a huge world-wide tourism industry now. In every continent of the world, they talk about adventure tourism. It was Nepal that pioneered the concept. Colonel Jimmy Roberts founded the first commercial trekking organization in 1962. That's when the whole thing began. Nepal set a fine example about this. High quality jungle safari and mountaineering started here.

As a foreigner living in Nepal for the last two and a half decades, how do you observe the social transformation here?

It has been tremendous. In the last 25 years, virtually nothing has changed in my hometown back in England. But in Nepal, particularly in cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara, everything has changed. When we came the population was 12 million, now it is close to 24 million. The population in Kathmandu valley then was probably around 2 lakh, now it is over 1.2 million. The way of life is changing very rapidly particularly the joint families are splitting into nuclear ones. The pace of change has been too rapid, and many people have simply not been able to keep up, and this is very understandable.

How do you evaluate the performance of tourism in the country?

In fact, the number one reason for the success of tourism here is the people of Nepal. They have been so wonderful over the years to all the visitors. They have helped create a wonderful destination, with Buddhism and Hinduism working so generally peacefully together. I don't think all the traditional qualities are being lost. They are still being retained. If you go to a house of say a Sherpa in Khumjung now, it is still very traditional. Same is true if you visit a house in the back-streets of Kathmandu. They are still very Nepalese. Changes take place, traffic, electricity, television, but the charm of the people stays as far as the tourist is concerned. They will flock back as and when we get  peace and stability back. 

You were involved in management of different companies for a long. How has been your experience on working with Nepalese?

I have worked in Mountain Travels and Summit Hotel, both comparatively small private limited companies. But they employed a lot of people. I found Nepalese very good to work with. We were able to run both happy and successful organizations. Given good management, Nepalese pull together extremely well. There was a change in 1990 when democracy came and the unions came in. To unions it was new, and to management to deal with unions, was new. But adaptation took place, and the management-worker relations in Nepal have been good overall.