TOURISM IN NEPAL

TOURISM IN NEPAL

“Let’s make it better”

        *Rabin Sapkota

Something very commonly debated topic, topic that fails to pinpoint on the objectives that can be accomplished and the opinion and thought that gets marginalized. Nepal, pioneer of tourism industry in the region with plan policy and strategic document is still in predicament not knowing what this industry offers. The problem is not in the lack of opinion, people with brilliant ideas come forward everywhere but putting those ideas into systematic development has become something that we see as immense unsolved task.

Doing what we were supposed to do could have taken us all into entire new level however the ground reality does not reflect the tangible picture as shown in the documents. The problem with the leadership is everywhere, politicians prefer populist speech and populist speech does not count little and important tasks that needs accomplishment rather prefer hypothetical agendas that can entertain mass.

It’s high time that the country needs to think on those small and minor issues that can make tangible effect on the picture and correct our working pattern. World is a common ground where every country is competing with one another for quality and performance to embrace the benefits that this industry offers. It is only us and our commitment that can change the scenario.

Amenities: Sometimes people wonder, Nepal a strategic location between such a huge population south and north keeps us away from all the possibilities. The reason behind these faded hopes is nothing more than our incapability’s to develop appropriate destinations and facilities according to the time spectrum. What if we had cable cars connecting snowline in all our five development regions? Do we have to worry about tourists from hot and humid India?

Ambiance: When tourists from third country enter Nepal via India they hardly realize if they have entered the new country. Border check point performance is under the benchmark and if any tourist without realizing that it had entered Nepal goes back to India will definitely think that the person never entered Nepal, so grumbling hear in Kathmandu that “Buddha is born in Nepal” is like an irrational statement. All Nepalese are well aware about the strong ambiance one has to come across when visiting Tatopani through Miteeri Bridge. Unless we create similar ambiance while entering Nepal no tourist will realize where they are, so naturally if the ambience is created in the entry point we don’t have to spend millions in marketing and the message will flow naturally to concerned stakeholders and visitors.

Brand: Advertisements are no more effective in tourism marketing though it does still have some impact. “Word of a Mouth” is indeed a vital icebreaker yet in the country like Nepal verbal recommendation from the tourist is not safe from their unprecedented ethical and unethical experiences. Introspection on experiences gained by the tourists for last 30 years and its analysis will tell us what impression we have created in Nepal for the prospective new visitors. There were times during 70’s and 80’s that Nepal truly was natural and of course the guest were treated like gods as guided by cultural ethics. The worst and the best part of Nepal is that it is still not facilitated with modern infrastructures, which makes most part of the country no better than what it was before, so on this ground tourists can still enjoy Nepal as any tourists that had enjoyed Nepal  during 60’s and 70’s. However modern professional growth and exposure of Nepalese in the international market cannot be undermined in the recent years. There is no doubt that Nepal is desperately looking for the new brand that can be established and can be suitable for the country image. Bringing new words as brand or slogan may be easy but what is truly forgotten is that the brand and image of the country relies on the combined factor of all the variables that are involved in making this industry. Fragile structure, underperformance, unprofessional behavior may not support any beautiful combination of words that we put forward. There is no option and alternative to everyone’s collective effort to upgrade this industry the way we think is better.

Religious Tourism: Once one of the Vietnamese person came across the statement mentioning that Buddha was from Vietnam. In Thailand people think that Buddha is from their own country. Most of the Chinese have no idea where Buddha is from. These are not just mere mistakes they truly reflect how insignificant our performance is on the prospective market. Similarly most of the Indians have no clue that Nepal is the land of gods and sages. Many people who reside in Nepal are the true inheritance of those bloodlines. Nepal is not just the country of Hindus but also possess strong spiritual environment that can flourish mental peace and prosperity.

So what is sellable here in Nepal is not only the religious destinations and its value but the experience that one gets and can experience is beyond ones expectations. Diversity and practices in Nepal is more than an open university. One just needs to come up with open mind.

Cultural Tourism: Well Nepal definitely is poor in many economic terms but there is no another country in the world who can boost its cultural enrichment despite severe poverty. Surprisingly even at this poverty level people here are calm, tolerant, and ethical, contains high moral values unlike many developed countries. The term culture does not only indicate at what we practice now but also indicates what makes us do so that is different and is a lesson that can aware the world in many terms. Rites and rituals practiced in this country is very much related to modern terminology that intellectual society uses in abundance to create global awareness. Of course the present society is strongly influenced by the modern achievements however certain behavior practiced by the society is amazingly a lesson to all humans. 

Accessibility: There is plenty of typology in tourism that can be discussed about however any pristine location or place that is available as a product is not far from its inaccessibility. What if Pokhara was not connected with the roadways! So is the case of other destination that if possibly had access could have unimaginable breakthrough.

Product: It’s a lame idea to depend only on one typology of tourism. Our misconception that was built during 60’s is still at large on our minds. It surprising that we still strongly believe that tourists come for mountains and nothing else. Without realizing the fact that the tourists arriving for trekking hiking and mountaineering consists a very small portion and size in the world. This narrow mindset among the stakeholders has stopped us from going beyond normal practices and harvest the possibilities beyond horizons. 

Rabin Sapkota is a Program Supervisor of Masters of Hospitality Management Program in Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM). Conducted in Affiliation with Tribhuvan University

Tourism! What Next in Nepal?

Eighty two years back when Kathmandu was in tremor there was virtually nothing for tourism industry to loose. Cultural heritage and property had their own significance, however we had not learnt to earn from our cherished assets that were laying on our backyard. Bringing heritage and property back to its formation was a matter of pride and honor to those rulers and so were the priority as the accountability towards people were none. Earthquake which devastated Kathmandu valley back in 1934 was never an issue as  tourism industry didn’t exist until 1951. This industry was yet to take the shape with the support of its own aviation fleet in 1958 as RNAC, which emerged as major and inevitable contributor in Nepalese tourism economy.

According to tourism employment survey 2014 this industry contributed two percent in GDP. Tourism Industry after all these years with 178,000 employees and more are in perfect dilemma due to recent earthquake. Industry which served 797616 tourists in 2013 with expectation to rise in 2014 comes to a total halt this year as the earthquake shook not only the ground but also shook the nourished thoughts of millions of prospective visitors looking forward to visit Nepal. 

Present scenario is another painful strike to all the professionals and amateurs in the industry which had just recovered from the downfall in business due to maoist insurgency for more than a decade. Despite huge experience and maturity in the region this industry never got an opportunity for its full growth. There has always been some visible and invisible hindrance contributing to its negative growth and this time visibly and physically this industry is challenged never like before.

Will this industry which helped Nepal collect nearly 43 billion rupees according to Nepal tourism statistic 2013 rise soon like before? If so how will it come back to life? What can be done to bring tourism back to track? It is indeed not only the question of one individual who is panicked from the trauma but now is national issue and has become quite significant to know about its future.

There is no doubt that we need long-term and short term strategy to overcome this crisis.

Offering Visit Nepal Year in the near future can be the perfect vision to revamp our national economy back to track. Working tradition is not effective, trend is critical and the jobs do not get accomplished in the given date. This sluggishness can be addressed if this industry gets a mission, time frame and reason to work. There is no doubt that this industry needs time to rebuilt itself and shine on its own better than before. So organizing systematic time-frame and monitoring accordingly will make our purpose more meaningful. Offering visit year will be the perfect motivational factor to encourage entrepreneurs, investors, visitors and other related stakeholders to regain their confidence in a given time. This effort will not only tell our people that we are back to business but also will deliver positive message to those millions looking forward to visit Nepal. 

Mission Visit Year will not only bring energy amongst all the stakeholders but also will give us a strong challenge to accomplish jobs within time limit. Mission to beautify Nepal and its infrastructure can be supported by the nation and it’s helping hands along with our skilled people. There is no other option than to build nation, it is a task that we need to accomplish no matter what, so building tourism friendly constructions and infrastructure not only will sustain economy but also will have multiple benefits in saving ways of life, business and culture. It is clear that without building earthquake resistant infrastructure people are not going to feel safe and secured so once we are ready let us tell the world what and how we are prepared. 

Cultural heritage and sites have their own blueprint to follow, however if the villages in effected area follow typicality of architecture following their own culture and tradition, home-stay can reimburse their loss in longer run and can always be used as a tourism asset in multiple means in the days to come. So rebuilding houses must be more than immediate survival kit. All the traditional houses damaged in the valley and other heritage sites can be encouraged to use typicality to save our identity rather than building concrete jungles. We in Nepal have abundance of local resources. There are lots of houses where rooftops are made of stone slates and this tradition is followed for years there is no logical point in replacing them with modern materials replacing our indigenous knowledge and an opportunity for our locals to earn. This is more than an opportunity to make Nepal tourism friendly country than to panic on what we have lost.

The government loan which is expected to come on lower interest facilities should encourage houses on heritage site to become not only heritage friendly but also should reflect the beauty of our woodcraft and our typical architecture. Which in multiple way can be fruitful to harness the tourism business.

Resettlement's are the compulsion now but can be used as an opportunity to enhance town and city development in appropriate manner. If only little understanding is shown in the resettlement process priority can be given to locations with scenic view which will give plenty of reason to develop tourism in the longer run. If the district center was given to Banepa and not to Dhulikhel the ability to cash the beauty of Dhulikhel would have gone in vain. 

Short term strategy for immediate recovery too needs a plan in a simple and effective way to overcome this standstill.

Of course our heritage will take some time to stand back to shine but our natural beauty is as beautiful as always. Simple way is to give interview in national papers about the natural beauty in Nepal and our ambassadors abroad can make effective use of it. However advertisement about Nepal in the papers must be used to revive business with positivity. Using paper advertisement is quite fast and effective measures to introduce a country when necessary, travel agencies hotels and corporate houses can do this together to uplift the name and fame of the nation.

As a matter of fact even after the quake our natural beauty, national parks, and many destinations are sound and good ready to welcome guests, so it is very important to advertise and let people know about our strength. Whether you like it or not Nepal did get international coverage in almost all the media that governs the global mainstream so it is indeed very important to cash the earthquake brand into positive one by providing beautiful and admiring information to many curious minds that may be willing to accept more information about Nepal now when they are familiar and curious about the country. 

Normally advertisement is focused more on BBC and CNN as it is a priority, however using local popular channels in their native language too can be of higher significance in various countries and cheaper to larger extent. It is indeed very important to let our prospective visitors know that our whole nation was not effected by earthquake, moreover our natural resources and beauty waits them as good as before.

Sending cultural group for performance and participation can also be the cost effective measure to enhance tourism marketing. Most importantly social media cannot be ignored in advertising Nepal in global scenario, only if we strike beautiful pictures or organize a competition on beautiful pictures of Nepal, we may be miles ahead in changing the perception about Nepal.

Little things should get started at our own effort on our own place. Domestic tourism is always a vital stream to keep industry lively. Motivational strategy and packages can help industry survive and that should come professionally sound and in healthy manner.