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Hard Sell
Nepal needs to go into overdrive to convince tourists that the country is safe for their visit
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
At a time when the country is witnessing a slump in the arrival of tourists, the government as well as the private sector would need to join their hands to convince tourists overseas that their visit to Nepal is safe.
Like they say 'silver lining in the dark cloud', Nepalese entrepreneurs can promote tourism by saying that tourists have not been harmed as yet by the internal conflict in the country. In fact, tourists have never been named as targets by any one in this Himalayan Kingdom.
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| Tourists : Faith is not lost yet |
And there have been some tentative steps taken in this direction. Just recently, the Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO), the association of premier destination management companies of Nepal for the second consecutive year took part at the world’s largest tourism fair – The ITB – held from March 11 to 15 in Berlin, Germany.
"Nepal’s participation at the Fair is primarily aimed at rebuilding the lost tourism image of Nepal and regaining the confidence of international travelers, who are willing to come to this Himalayan Kingdom," states the press release from the association.
According to the NATO, during the event, it put its efforts to convince the Nepal-stand visitors that there is no threat of insurgency to the tourists in Nepal as being portrayed in the news-reports carried by international media. Even the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Buddhi Raj Bajracharya attended the ITB in Berlin where, according to him, the government made serious efforts to convince the German people about the true situation in Nepal.
‘The insurgency in Nepal has never directly or indirectly threatened the well-being of tourists and in fact the insurgents have been on record as stating that tourists are not their targets,’ is what we are messaging in Berlin, said Basant Raj Mishra, the president of NATO.
Many international airlines have shown their enthusiasm to operate flights to Nepal and this is definitely an evidence of continued interest in Nepal’s tourism product, he said adding that, “NATO’s mission at the ITB this year is to share this enthusiasm for our homeland with the rest of the world.”
Even amid reports of decline in tourist arrival, many entrepreneurs think otherwise. "The current slump is only due to negative media reports. But even with such reports, we have not seen serious decline," Prem Dangol, managing director of Discover Treks Nepal. Dangol, a former executive member of Trekking Agents Association of Nepal, adds that his agency is receiving tourists and trekkers as usual.
"This is the age of Information Technology. After initial hiccups, the international visitors are now increasingly aware that the situation in Nepal is normal. And because of favorable word-of-mouth publicity, the stream of visitors has not dried up," Dangol said. He added that if the state of emergency was to be lifted that would further send positive signals to the prospective visitors. It appears that the initial days after February 1 when communication lines were disrupted had sent negative signal to the outside world.
The contribution of tourism is likely to assume greater significance in the days ahead given the turmoil in the country. And as such, the government and the private sector have no other alternative than to join hands to enhance this sector.
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