Promoting Nepal As Unique Tourist Destination

Tourism is a rapidly growing industry, which is simultaneously developed with communication and transportation connectivity. The liberal policy of nations has added a new dimension to its fast growth. It has a significant role in creating employment opportunities and income generation. It is a labour intensive industry that plays a significant role in solving unemployment problems. Furthermore, its role is equally important for socio-cultural exchange and universal brotherhood. As a viable sector of the economy, tourism contributes significantly for the growth of GDP of the country. Tourism has comparative advantages in Nepal in terms of foreign exchange earnings. The most important factors to be considered while choosing a tourist destination include natural beauty, climatic condition, cost of accommodation, service quality and infrastructure.

Nepal is one of the richest countries of the world in natural beauty. Its strategic position between India and China, the two highly populated countries, is of course an attractive proposition for tourists. Nepal is known as the country of highest peak Mt. Everest in the world. It also has the Dang valley which is one of the largest in Asia. Its bio-diversity can attract many types of people and it has helped the existence of varied flora and fauna. The country is a major religious centre of both Hinduism and Buddhism. The Pashupatinath Temple and Lumbini, the birth place of Buddha are both enlisted in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites under cultural category. 

Cultural diversity

Regarding cultural diversity, Nepal is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country. There are so many cultures and traditional practices which has been continuing over the years. Nepal is a country rich in varied flora and fauna. It has more than six thousand rivers. So, it has a huge potential to attract tourists interested in water adventure sports. The famous white water rafting sites are in the Gandaki, Kosi, Trisuli and Karnali rivers. It can make travellers surprised and delighted at every moment. Nepal has been described as a “trekker's paradise” and is popular all over the world. The mountain, hill and Tarai belts are found all within an average distance of 195 km from north to south and they range from sub-tropical to arctic climates and a visitor can find absolutely different ways of life according to the climate. Trekkers can enjoy cultural experiences, bio-diversity, Himalayan adventure, forested hills and Tarai and fair weather most of the time. 

The rural life of Nepal is varied and diverse. Homestay service is expanding in different areas of the country. Tourists walking through these villages can meet and talk with charming Nepali people. They can enjoy their meals with rural people as guests in their household kitchens. Such a community based tourism helps the rural people directly to generate their income and develop tourism activities at grassroots level. The government has initiated the development of new and indigenous cultural areas for the promotion of tourism in the country. The expected outcome envisaged by the Fifteenth Plan (2019-2024) is to raise the contribution of tourism sector on GDP to 10 per cent by the end of the plan.

Regional imbalance in the development of infrastructure is one of the barriers that has hindered the length of foreign tourists' stay. Some of the rural areas are not connected with road network and even connected areas lack required operating services all-year round. Most of the tourists enter the country via the Tribhuvan International Airport, so equipping it with sanitary facilities is important for bringing more tourist to Nepal. The average health service facilities are improving in Nepal, but more needs to be done to catch up with international standards. 

Well-trained manpower is the basic requirement to run tourism activities in an effective way. Mountaineering, trekking, and the management of hotels, lodges and restaurants are related activities to the tourists visiting the country. A total of 61,498 Nepalis have already received tourism related trainings from Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management as per the Economic Survey (2022/23) of the Ministry of Finance. Such manpower is also employed in rural areas. Electric vehicles are increasingly being used in large number in all major cities. This trend has helped the government as well as the local authorities to control air pollution.

Sustainable tourism

Studies have shown that tourists visit mainly limited areas, so we should encourage them to visit other parts of the country by providing them full facilities with good accommodation. Nowadays, tourists from around the world are interested to visit rural areas, since most of the visitors have urban areas in their own countries. Most international heritage sites damaged by the earthquake of 2015 in the Kathmandu valley have been restored and Nepal is ready to receive as many tourist as possible in future.

In the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is a plan to implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates employments and promotes local culture and products. The main slogan of the current government in Nepal is prosperity and development. So, it is expected to help poverty alleviation in Nepal by creating a large number of jobs along with promoting local production. Sustainable tourism can be helpful in achieving the goal of prosperity. Sustainable tourism activities should be focused with priority to uplift the life standard of the local people.

(The author is a professor of economics.)