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Sign Of Plummeting Tourism
Fewer pilgrims during Shivaratri festival indicates the sharp decline in the arrival of tourists
By A CORRESPONDENT
The number of pilgrims visiting Pashupati Temple this year plummeted sharply, showing signs of decreasing tourism industry. Shivaratri is considered the major festival that attracts religious tourists from India. While more than 200,000 pilgrims from India used to visit Pashupati in the previous years, this year the number was less than 1,50,000.
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Shivaratri festivities : Religous attraction |
Not only the foreign pilgrims, the festival also saw a decline in the number of domestic devotees from terai as well as other hilly regions. The decline in the number of tourists was because of the difficulty in transportation due to road blockades and the emergency imposed in the country.
Likewise, the number of Sadhus has also sharply diminished. Nanga babas (naked sages) and khade babas (standing sages) who had been visiting the Pashupati during Shivaratri, also came in fewer numbers this year.
Whether as the only Hindu Kingdom in the world Nepal or the birthplace of Lord Buddha, Nepal has bright prospects for improving religious tourism if the peace and normalcy is restored in the country.
Lord Shiva is revered by all Hindus around the world as the Lord of the Lords. Pashupati Nath temple, which has its history backing to thousands of years, is one of the most important religious shrines for Hindus.
The decline in Shivaratri visitors coincides with the fall in the arrival of tourists by air. The number of tourists coming by has declined sharply in the month of February. The number of tourists coming to Nepal came down by 43 percent compared to the same month previous year, according to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). The board quoting figures made available by Immigration Department said that the number of Indian tourists came down by 52 percent and those from third-country decreased by 39 percent in the month. Around 14,000 tourists came to Nepal in February. The arrival of American tourists declined by 30 percent, British tourists by 11 percent, Japanese tourists by 67 percent, German by 39 percent, Australian by 37 percent, Canadian by 43 percent, French by 52 percent and Italian by 28 percent in the period. Entrepreneurs said that the sharp decline was because of political situation in Nepal, the negative travel advisories and so on.
Meanwhile, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) in partnership with Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC), Cosmic Air Private Limited, Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) and Nepal Recreation Center (NRC) has launched special family offer for Indian nationals. The new scheme offers “buy three (air tickets) get one free” with the objective of luring Indian tourists. Apart from providing free air-tickets, the tourists accepting the offer will be given special privileges at Pashupati Darshan and with IRs 10,000 worth of free coupons for playing at casinos. This promotional package was launched after the number of Indian tourists who occupy one-third of the total tourists coming to Nepal decreased in recent months.
Everest Basecamp Among Top 10 Lifetime Trips
A trek to the base camp of Mount Everest is ranked seventh among the top 10 “once-in-a-lifetime” trips listed by leading online seller of adventure travel iExplore. Nepal, where the base camp is located, is the only South Asian country to figure in the list, a Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) statement quoting iExplore said. Last year, too the Mount Everest base camp had figured seventh among the top 20 journeys of a lifetime list published by UK’s leading magazine, ‘The Observer.” Champagne flight to North Pole has been ranked number one by iExplore, followed by a trip to and from Timbuktu and sea kayaking in the Panama Canal. “The list shows how far consumers are willing to go to get as unique an experience as possible, providing them with travel memories and travel bragging rights for a lifetime,” NTB quoted iExplore CEO G. Debb as saying. Others on iExplore top 10 trips: stay with a Mongolian family in the Gobi desert; cage dive with great white sharks in South Africa; camel caravan across the Sahara desert; a hot spring bath in Iceland; balloon safari over the Serengeti (Tanzania); walk in rainforest tree canopies in the Amazon.
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