Koshi Tourism Year turns a non-starter

By Shashidhar Parajuli.Biratnagar, Dec. 7: Although the Koshi provincial government announced it would celebrate the current Nepali year 2082 as the ‘Koshi Tourism Year’, no concrete tourism-promotion programmes have been implemented, even though the first four months of the year have been completed. 

Due to the government’s own policy instability, decision to cut the budget by 25 per cent, and the lack of coordination between ministries, the province’s tourism development plans have remained confined to paper. 

With the uncertainty over the budget reduction unresolved, programmes related to the Koshi Tourism Year 2082 have not even been launched this year.

The provincial government had decided to withhold 25 per cent of the total budget, saying it needed to reduce expenditure this fiscal year. To implement that decision, the Ministry of Tourism, Forests and Environment had recommended the removal of low-priority programmes and forwarded the proposal to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning (MoEAP) a long time ago.

However, since the MoEAP has not taken the necessary decision on time, the Tourism Ministry now finds itself in a dilemma over whether to proceed with its programmes or not. 

According to ministry sources, the MoEAP has not clarified whether 25 per cent should be deducted from every budget heading, or whether the specific programmes recommended for removal by the Tourism Ministry should be scrapped entirely.

This administrative uncertainty has created confusion over how to spend the Rs. 54.6 million allocated for the Koshi Tourism Year. 

“As we are unsure whether 25 per cent will also be spent from the tourism-year budget, we have not been able to move any files forward,” said Ministry Secretary Dr. Indra Prasad Sapkota. Because of this uncertainty, significant promotional activities—such as mobilising media influencers, producing documentary videos and carrying out promotions through television—remain stalled. 

Business owners complain that the budget cuts, justified by the government on the grounds of economic recession and ongoing protests, have dampened enthusiasm in a sector as sensitive as tourism.

However, after a long wait, some legal hurdles have now been eased. Four months after the start of the fiscal year, the Koshi government approved the tourism-related working procedure this Friday. Secretary Sapkota said that the Cabinet had approved a simplified working procedure for tourism and that it would come into effect within a few days.

The previous working procedure had a complex provision requiring a three-tier approval process for programme endorsement, which had caused delays. Under the newly approved simplified procedure, the ministry will make the necessary internal adjustments. 

Once the secretary signs the document, it will be published in the provincial gazette and implemented within a few days.

Even with the working procedure approved, programme implementation will remain difficult until the budget uncertainty is resolved. To make the tourism year a success, the Steering Committee chaired by the provincial tourism minister, must meet to finalise the programmes and allocate the budget. 

The ministry aims to begin the programmes by the end of Mangsir (mid-December). It has prioritised trekking-route-based tourism projects and developing technology that allows visitors to scan QR codes to access local folklore at tourist destinations.

Meanwhile, the delay in budget implementation and the resulting halt to infrastructure development and promotional activities have increased the risk of losing the main tourist season.