Lumbini records recovery in tourism sector

By Laxman Paudel,Bhairahawa, Apr. 9: The recent trend of tourists visiting Lumbini has shown that the tourism sector affected by the COVID-19 pandemic has started to recover.

In the first three months of 2023 (January-March), 89,928 tourists visited Lumbini, the birth place of Gautam Buddha.

According to the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT), majority of visitors were from India. 

Data shows that 61,122 Indian tourists arrived in Lumbini from India in the past three months. Similarly, more than 100,000 domestic tourists visited Buddha’s birth place.

Other than domestic and Indian tourists, 28,806 foreigners from third countries visited Lumbini during the same period. Among the visitors from third countries, 7,760 were from Thailand, 5,158 from Sri Lanka, 4,342 from Myanmar, 2,911 from Vietnam, 2,885 from South Korea and 369 from China.

According to LDT officials, the number of visitors from third countries have started to increase since the resumption of tourist arrivals after the pandemic.

In the past three months, 5,000 more tourists arrived in Lumbini from third countries compared to the number of visitors in 2022. Only 23,942 tourists from third countries had visited Lumbini in 2022.

“In 2023, 12,522 and 12,297 foreign tourists visited Lumbini in February and March respectively. However, in 2022, only 306 and 626 individuals had visited Lumbini in the months of February and March respectively,” informed the LDT.

“We have been organising some programmes targeting people of third countries, especially the Thai and the Korean. We have more plans to attract more tourists to Lumbini and revive our tourism,” said Sanuraja Shakya, member secretary of LDT.

The number of tourists is increasing; meanwhile, officials said that the sector has not reached the level before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2019, 25,000 and 29,000 passport-holder foreign tourists had arrived in Lumbini during the months of February and March respectively. 

There were 21,000 tourists in February 2020, but the number declined to 8,000 in March 2020 as COVID-19 cases started to worsen in China. After April 2020, tourism sector was led to a shutdown as the pandemic spread globally.

While the number of visitors is now on rise and there are signs of recovery, tourism businesses said that the trend of foreigners returning without staying in Lumbini had not stopped.

“After the pandemic, Gautam Buddha International Airport has come into operation. It led to increase in hotels. However, tourists do not prefer staying here,” said Govinda Gyawali, chairman of Lumbini Hotel Association.

Hoteliers and tourism experts argued that the stakeholders should unite to increase attractions in the region, improve hospitality, upgrade tourism infrastructure and bring the international airport into full operation. 

“The international airport got constructed and inaugurated, but it has not come into full operation yet. There are two peak seasons – February-March and October-November – to visit Lumbini. The first season has ended, but we can make plans to attract more tourists in the second,” said Sanjay Bajimaya, a tourism entrepreneur and the chairman of Lumbini Society of Travel and Tour Operators (SOTTO).

“The bridges on the way to Lumbini from Bhairahawa have not been constructed affecting transportation of tourists. We need to improve our infrastructure and create a better staying environment for foreigners in this region,” said Dr. Gitu Giri, a tourism expert.

Dr. Giri, who is also the Research Director at the Lumbini Research Centre, also stressed the need of effective and efficient operation of the Gautam Buddha International Airport.