Pokhara Poised To Lure More Tourists

Amidst a steady revival in international tourist arrivals to Nepal and most parts of the world after the disappearance of COVID-19, authorities in the country have begun giving more importance to the tourism industry. Few weeks after the Bharatpur Metropolitan City launched the Visit Bharatpur Year 2024, the Gandaki provincial government and the Pokhara Metropolitan City have declared Pokhara as the Tourism Capital. In view of its numerous tourism resources ranging from unequalled natural beauty to cultural diversity, Pokhara deserves this recognition. A close view of amazing snow-clad Annapurna Range and several other mountains, famous Phewa Lake and other serene lakes, monuments and green forests have enhanced Pokhara’s image as an appealing tourist destination.  Because of such a myriad of attractions, adventurers and other holidaymakers enjoy visiting this lake city.

The announcement was made amidst a special programme organised at Barahi Ghat on the bank of Phewa Lake on Sunday (March 17). Rallies reflecting different cultural glimpses of various castes and communities living in the province figured in the grand official announcement ceremony. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ announced the lake city as Tourism Capital. Representatives of various other embassies based in Nepal also attended the gathering. With its beautiful weather and good roads and other tourism infrastructures, Pokhara has been a popular destination among visitors, especially Indians and Chinese. The city is also much cleaner as the authorities have maintained cleanliness to maintain its reputation as a key tourist hub.

Major gateway

Over the past many years, local tourism entrepreneurs and other stakeholders had been lobbying with the government for recognising Pokhara as the Tourism Capital. Since the beginning, the provincial government had also remained effortful in doing so in order to boost tourism activities in the nation’s second-largest city. Being a gateway to the world-famous Annapurna Region, Pokhara has remained a major tourist destination since the early 1950s when the tourism business, especially mountaineering activities, began in the country. With its locals’ great hospitality and a more tourism-friendly environment, the city has been the most preferred destination among international and domestic tourists alike. Though no proper system to maintain records of tourists seems to have been in place, Pokhara hosts a lot of tourists. In 2018, the city is believed to have welcomed more than one million tourists. Of the total number of visitors, nearly 60 per cent were Nepalis. 

As a multifaceted sector, tourism holds huge potentials for contributing to the national economy by generating foreign exchanges, creating employment opportunities and supporting numerous auxiliary industries. However, this is a sensitive sector that remains badly affected even when a minor incident occurs. But its strength is that it starts recovering as soon as any adverse situation returns to normalcy.   

The Gandaki provincial government has taken this step as recommended by a study committee formed in November last year.  Coordinated by Vice Chairman of Gandaki Province Planning Commission Dr. Krishna Prasad Devkota, the committee had also included Dr. Ramji Sharma and Basu Dev Tripathi as tourism experts and other members representing different ministries and the media. The team had conducted a feasibility study of designing Pokhara as the Tourism Capital. The study report that was submitted to Chief Minister of Gandaki Province Surendra Raj Pandey set a timeframe to ensure minimum basic requirements prior to declaring Pokhara as Tourism Capital. 

A main organising committee was formed under the coordination of the Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City Dhan Raj Acharya. All secretaries of the provincial government, mayors of different municipalities of Kaski, Tanahun, Parbat and Syangja were included in the committee.  To make the committee more inclusive, representatives from different tourism-related associations were also incorporated in the committee. When Pokhara is capable of luring more tourists, it may have spillover effect on other surrounding destinations like the Annapurna Region, Chitwan and Lumbini. Even Kathmandu, Dhulikhel and Nagarkot can stand to benefit from the growth in tourism activities in Pokhara. 

Mayor Acharya, who is also a leading tourism entrepreneur in Pokhara, had expressed his strong commitment to declaring the city as Tourism Capital immediately after his election about two years back. When Acharya assumed his office, one of his first three decisions was to request the federal government to declare Pokhara as Tourism Capital. The local and provincial governments seem to have come up with this plan after having discussed the matter extensively. This joint initiative is quite commendable as it has brought a lot of optimism to the travel trade people and other stakeholders. 

Sizeable increase

Their dream has come true because of their concerted efforts. After this announcement, the federal and Gandaki provincial and local governments are required to make great strides in developing necessary infrastructures and upgrade the quality of services in order to win  the hearts and minds of potential tourists from home and abroad. Over the years, like Kathmandu, Chitwan and Lumbini, Pokhara has witnessed a sizable increase in investments in hotel, resorts and other segments of the hospitality businesses. Despite a rise in the number of tourists visiting the country over the past two years, hoteliers and other investors have kept on grappling with varied problems, including the effects of the existing global recession.

As suggested by the study committee, the authorities must come up with short-term, mid-term and long-term plans to position Pokhara as a ‘must-see’ tourist destination. One of the difficulties facing Pokhara at present is that the Pokhara International Airport has not come into operation in full swing. Built with a loan assistance of around US$216 million from China, the airport was inaugurated on January 1 last year. But, as of now, even a single international airline has not been serving this airport. The concerned authorities must not delay in taking necessary measures for operationalising this infrastructure for bolstering Pokhara’s tourism. 

(The author is a former deputy executive editor of this daily.)