National 6 (Spotlight Weekly)

Positive Note

After the ceasefire, hotels in tourist centers like Chitawan and Pokhara are improving their business

By SANJAYA DHAKAL in Bharatpur

Before the ceasefire was announced between the government and the Maoists, the movement of people was restricted after 7 Oíclock in the evening in the Chitawan-Bharatpur belt. Not only in this place, movements were restricted in several other localities due to security reasons.

However, after the ceasefire, the restriction has been lifted triggering rise in peopleís movement. "Earlier, no guests including tourists came to our hotel after 6 in the evening. But nowadays, tourists come knocking even at 10 pm," said Dileep Mainali, executive director of Hotel Chitawan Keyman, a leading hotel in Bharatpur.

Tourists in Thamel : Improving prospects

Likewise, tourist flow in Pokhara, too, has increased. "Though it is not still very good, their arrival figure has improved after the ceasefire as far as my hotel is concerned," said Tulasi Prasad Shrestha, owner of Hotel Tulasi in Lakeside, Pokhara.

Such has been the enthusiasm of people that due to peaceful atmosphere many Nepalese have started to venture out for sightseeing. "I think many of them want to take advantage of the current peace situation fearing whether it, too, could be of short duration," said Mainali.

That apart, because there were lots of weddings in January and February, scores of newly married couples of Kathmandu and other urban areas have started to flock to places like Pokhara and Chitawan to celebrate their honey-moon, contributing much-needed money to the tourism industry.

Not only the domestic tourism, even the international one has improved of late. The latest arrivals figures released on March 4 by the Department of Immigration revealed that total tourist arrivals by air rose marginally in the month of February.

The total figures for the month (16,960) showed a marginal increment of 1% compared with that of February 2002 with leading improvement in Indian market by 44%. The Third Country total however was down by 10% compared to the same period previous year with a net loss of 1,325 visitors. Due to fear of Iraq war and other international reasons, the number of western tourists continues to take a plunge.

The figures showed that although the total arrival by air remained unchanged for the month of February 2003 compared to the same period last year, the performance by market varied considerably with the Indian in a continuous high growth pattern and Japan, China, Spain, Italy and Austria showing growth over the same period last year.

There was mixed performance from key tourism markets with increases in arrivals from Japan (up 9 per cent), China (up 7 per cent), Italy (up 2 per cent), Spain (up 20 per cent) and Austria (up by 129%) during the month, while visitor numbers from the US (down 39 per cent), UK (down 30 per cent), Germany (down 6 per cent) and Australia (down 25%) all declined. The French market also declined by 7% and Belgian by 44%. The Benelux market along with Swedish and Canadian also remained negative for the month.

"The figures indicate that with home conditions improving, Nepal is gradually regaining its reduced consumer confidence, especially from Indian market over the months. But despite the rising consumer confidence, third country arrivals to Nepal were impacted by the trend for international travelers to holiday closer to home for shorter periods. It is observed that the industry is already seeing the signs of softening conditions, with forward bookings for the next season," said Aditya Baral, publicity manager at the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

The third country total, which stood at 11,931, had the market share of 70% for the month, according to the board.