It is indeed a very well-known fact
that Nepal holds the finest potentials in tourism development leaving behind
all odds and complications. In terms of destination and its development there is no doubt we need to
work harder to understand better. So far we have been only promoting those destinations that are promoted on their own without any significant effort from concerned stakeholders leaving exception to Pokhara. The terms such as destination management, brand, marketing, tourism destination, sustainable tourism, may have little value without knowing what exactly the term destination means. Looking forward (Pechlaner, 2003) defines destination as an area
offering touristic services and activities, which has special attractions and
can be chosen by a tourist for a trip. From a geographic point of view, the
destination could be a continent, a country, a region, or any kind of place,
and its border is determined by the distance of the home country of the
tourists. In an optimal case, the destination operates as a management entity
in spite of its numerous and heterogeneous players.
The destination should be seen as a
concrete touristic service supplier, a “multi-product company” (Krippendorf,
1971). The definition of Flagestad (2002, p. 4) is the closest to the author’s
interpretation, as he handled a destination as an entire entity of area: “A
geographical, economic, and social unit consisting of all those firms,
organizations, areas, and installations which when combined are intended to
serve the specific needs of the visitors”.
Whatever the destination must have
been in case of understanding there is no doubt that Nepal needs to have a
concrete research on tourism destination to enhance and boost its brand on
national and international arena. We have multiple locations that are vibrant
in terms of beauty and geographic appeal however lacking’s in appropriate
support from human resource in infrastructure has kept many of our heavenly
location isolated to that of underworld.
The success of tourism destinations in world
markets is influenced by their relative competitiveness. Tourism destination
competitiveness is becoming an area of growing interest amongst tourism
researchers (see
particularly Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Pearce, 1997). The contention is that
destination competitiveness has ‘‘tremendous ramifications for the tourism
industry and is therefore of considerable interest to practitioners and policy
makers.’’ (Ritchie & Crouch, 2000, p.6). Dwyer, Forsyth, & Rao (2000,
p.10) reinforce this view, stating that it is
‘‘useful for the industry and government to understand where a country’s
competitive position is weakest or strongest’’ and hence that it is important
to know how and why competitiveness is changing.
The world has already figured out
competitiveness in tourism destinations but in case of Nepal we are yet to
build destinations, so the urgency for the policy makers in case of global scenario
is already felt necessary.
The level of consciousness in case of
destination can be followed as per the WTO, which indicates destination as a
place, which possesses appropriate attractions, infrastructure, and touristic
services, so as to be the place for touristic stay, and appears as an entire
market player for the tourist (World Trade Organization [WTO], 1993).
Destination in terms of definition may be very appropriate to what WTO
indicated however in terms of the market, the destinations are sites of
consumption and can be seen as the unit of touristic competition (Bieger &
Laesser, 1998), and like this, it should operate as a strategic business unit,
be independent from political limits, offer the guests the needed facilities
for stay and experience, and have an obligation for brand and sales system
building (Bieger, 1998). In the Nepalese context where we lack adequate study
on tourism dynamics and on its value, destination profile study no doubt will
have a very long-term importance moreover most important question is: “How
should this strategic business unit, this multi-product company, be managed?”
The “meta-management” or the overall management of the destinations appeared
only in the last decades (Sainaghi, 2006) and can be defined as follows:
(...) Destination management is the strategic, organizational, and
operative decisions taken to manage the process of definition, promotion, and
commercialization of the tourism product [originating from within the
destination], to generate manageable flows of incoming tourists that are
balanced, sustainable, and sufficient to meet the economic needs of the local
actors involved in the destination. (Franch & Martini, 2002; as cited in
Presenza, Sheehan, & Ritchie, 2005, p. 3)
On the ground where we are yet to
come across the study, the necessity for research and its strategic
plans are vital and is only the means to uplift tourism market and brand of the
country.
Policy and
Developments
George lebrec a French national in
1959 suggested Nepal in his “General Plan for the Organization of Tourism of Nepal”
to prepare with brochure, poster, postage stamp covering Himalayan peaks flora
fauna and documentaries to promote tourism activities in Nepal, which even at
present after all these years is still a vital strategies to put it in our
priority. Thomas Cook and Sons who brought 60 tourists in 1955 and made us
realize the necessity of systematic tourism activities management and
development in Nepal. (Shrestha & Shrestha, 2010). Well we may be quite
mature in case of policy and documents, there is no doubt, however new emerging
nations such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, have tremendous achievement in
their tourism industry.
Tourism Department in 1962 started
keeping record of tourists and started the mileage on statistics. Nepal tourism
development committee in 1969 started making tourism policy and strategies.
Establishment of Nepal Airlines in 1958 and NATHM in 1972 were significant
steps to enhance tourism in Nepal. Tourism master plan in 1972, Tourism Policy
1995 and establishment of Nepal Tourism Board in 1998 were all the best effort
made to promote tourism in Nepal. (Shrestha, 2000). Our initial thoughts and
our plans despite having excellent foundations did not come up with visible
achievements.
Significance
There is no doubt if the
study on destinations will be conducted it will be the beginning of Golden History in the tourism sector of
Nepal. It is quite awkward that we as a nation without any distinct research
are trying to implement tourism policy. It is now that we have no idea about
the number of destination, their potentiality that we can possibly brand nor we
have any marketing strategy associated with it. So it is irrelevant to complain
NTB on its marketing policy. Is the concerned stakeholder equipped with
appropriate tools and mechanism to enhance their objective?
Tourism entrepreneurs,
government of Nepal, concerned ministry, policy makers and scholars may find destination
research useful. The research which may come along with grave information can
be the guideline for future Nepal and in its National Planning Commission,
Nepal Tourism Board, Tourism Department can make this research as their major
task to incorporate the strategy needed for marketing various
destinations as a product of Nepal in the global market in the longer run.
However even after all
these years lacking in well versed research and extensive information to
promote our destinations hinders national objective and priority, no matter how
hard nation has been trying to promote itself in the international arena success is only possible once the nation has enough information to market and
brand its destinations in appropriate manner which it lacks at present.
References
Bieger, T. (1998). Reengineering destination marketing
organizations: The case of Switzerland. Tourism
Review, 53(3), 4-17.
Bieger, T., & Laesser, C. (1998). Neue Strukturen im Tourismus—Der Weg der
Schweiz (New structures in tourism—The way of Switzerland). Bern: Pauln
Haupt.
Crouch, G.I., & Ritchie, J.R.B.(1999).Tourism,
competitiveness, and social prosperity. Journal
of Business Research, 44, 137–152.
Flagestad, A. (2002). Strategic sources and
organisational structure in winter sport destinations (Ph.D. dissertation,
University of Bradford, UK).
Franch, M., & Martini, U. (2002). Destinations and
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the light of some ongoing experiences. In Presenza, A., Sheehan, L., &
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