Speaking at an interaction on 'Turning Point in Tourism: The Role of National and International Tour Operators' held in Kathmandu on Tuesday, they said booking for autumn, which has done down by 30 to 40 percent, will go down further if the issue is not tackled in time.
Mick Chapman of Himalaya Guides UK/Australia said that the problem of travel insurance due to negative advisory has resulted in 70 percent lesser booking for this autumn compared to last year. "Nepali tourism has always recovered fast if we look at the past problems. But this time it will take longer to bounce back as diversity of products and professionalism has been a major issue before the earthquake," said Chapman.Representatives of major tour operators selling Nepal said the country has been losing repeating visitors and tourists have been shortening their stay here due to lack of professionalism and quality.
Jo Chaffer of KE Adventure of the United Kingdom, which has been operating tours in Nepal for the past 30 years, said that the number of repeating tourists has drastically gone down and that tourists these days stay for a maximum of 15 days. "We operate tours in more than 100 countries and Nepal has been in the list of top 10 by volume for many years. But since 2014 the volume has drastically dropped down," Chaffer said, adding that Nepal now needs to focus on enhancing the quality of service.
She also suggested to the government to provide evidences of safe areas to visit so that travel advisories can be relaxed.
Robin Boustead, director of Great Himalaya Trail Alliance, said that Nepal should focus on a number of key areas considered as hygiene factors to tourism. Boustead recommended providing training to the people involved in the tourism industry for professional development, improving infrastructure in the industry and sending coordinated positive message to the world to convey that Nepal is still wonderful to visit.
"As the figures of booking compound a downward trend in traditional source markets, which will make the bounce-back more difficult, it is extremely important that Nepal addresses the problems in its tourism industry and returns to the market with a better product and service offering," said Boustead.
Sonia Miyahara of Himalayan Kanko Japan, which has been operating tours for Nepal since 1969, said that though Japan has not issued any travel advisory to Nepal, lack of information on which areas are safe to visit and which are not has confused many potential Japanese tourists.
Similarly, Mads Mathiasen from Himalaya Trails, Denmark, said that Nepal should focus on cultural market as these are the products with unique value which are found only here.
Likewise, Sergey Vertelov of Himalaya Club, Russia said that Nepal should promote safer areas and be selective, sensitive and positive while disseminating the message to the world.
All the representatives of international tour operators had a common view that Nepal can bounce back for spring 2016 if the government lobbies to remove the negative travel advisory by providing factual details of safe and unsafe areas.
New Zealand softens travel advisory
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand has lowered risk level for Nepal in its recent travel advisory for Nepal.
New Zealand has advised its citizens to be cautious for all of the country except the most affected districts -- Gorkha, Kavrepalanchok, Dhading, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Sindupalchok, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Okhaldunga and Makwanpur -- for which it has advised to avoid all tourist and non-essential travel.
"The Government of Nepal has designated these districts as earthquake-affected. We advise against all tourists and other non-essential travel to these districts due to earthquake damage, ongoing relief and recovery efforts and the risk of landslides/avalanches," the revised advisory reads.
Liza Choegyal, honorary consul of New Zealand in Nepal, said: "New Zealand has a long association with mountains and tourism in Nepal, and we are proud to be the one of the first countries to lift our travel warning to help tourism recovery following the tragic earthquakes."
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