POKHARA, Jan 19: Around two decades ago, a total of 375,398 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal by air, with around 20 percent (75,000) visiting Pokhara, according to government data of 2005.
By 2009, foreign tourist arrivals in Nepal surged to 599,956, with approximately 40 percent (203,000) of these tourists visiting Pokhara. Over the four-year period from 2005 to 2009, the share of foreign tourists visiting Pokhara doubled, from 20 percent to 40 percent.
However, tourism entrepreneurs report that only about 45 percent of the tourists entering Nepal by air currently visit Pokhara. The government stopped tracking Pokhara’s foreign tourist arrivals after 2010. However, the airport records on air arrivals maintain that only 45 percent of those tourists visit the city dubbed as the tourism capital of Nepal.
Despite the 40 percent figure in 2009, the number has only increased to 45 percent by 2025, marking a modest 5 percent growth over the last 15 years.
Tikaram Sapkota, a former member of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and a long-time researcher of Pokhara’s tourism, said, “The arrival of foreign tourists in Pokhara has only increased by 5 percentage points over the last 15 years. This growth rate is very low. Although investment has grown, the number of visitors has not. By now, the growth should have been around 60 percent, but there has been no significant improvement.”
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Sapkota said that the increase from 40 percent in 2009 to 45 percent by 2025 cannot be considered a significant improvement. "Pokhara has been losing more and more foreign tourists lately, which is why the arrivals have not improved," he said, "There have been no efforts to enhance the city's appeal."
He said that the lack of improvement in tourist arrivals is largely due to the challenges in accessing Pokhara over the past few years. More than 60 percent of tourists visit Nepal for adventure activities, and Pokhara has traditionally been a key destination for trekking.
However, Sapkota also pointed out that the number of trekkers has also declined. He noted that with the expansion of motorable roads along trekking routes, tourists have increasingly bypassed the Annapurna region in favor of other areas.
He said, "The shortening of trekking routes has been particularly detrimental. Tourists coming to the Annapurna region for trekking are now heading elsewhere."
"If we don’t address these issues soon, Pokhara’s tourism sector will face even greater challenges in the future. However, if we focus on improving access and introducing new activities, tourists will return,” he warned.
Naresh Bhattarai, another tourism entrepreneur, echoed concerns about limited progress in the arrival of foreign tourists. He noted that in 2009, 40 percent of the foreign tourists who entered Nepal came to Pokhara, and this figure has remained largely unchanged. "Of the tourists who visit Nepal, 40 percent still come to Pokhara. It does not seem that the number has reached 45 percent," said Bhattarai, "Pokhara's tourism sector has stagnated at the same arrival numbers as it had a decade and a half ago. This lack of growth doesn’t reflect a strong enthusiasm for tourism."
Bhattarai, who is also the director of Mount Kailash Resort, pointed to accessibility as the primary barrier preventing more foreign guests from visiting Pokhara. He said that most foreign tourists avoid air travel between Kathmandu and Pokhara due to the lack of a strong international reputation for Nepal’s air travel. "As a result, tourists who arrive in Kathmandu tend to travel to Pokhara by land. Since the road from Kathmandu to Pokhara is also challenging, they try to bypass Pokhara as much as possible."
"The message that Nepal's internal air travel is unsafe and the land route is problematic has become widespread. This is why Pokhara has not seen a significant improvement in tourist arrivals," he said.
He said that when the trekking period in the Annapurna region was shortened, many tourists who previously visited for trekking chose other destinations, which negatively impacted the entire tourism sector. "The Annapurna Circuit used to take three weeks to complete. Now, it can be done in three days. As a result, almost all the trekkers have been drawn to the Everest region. We have failed to attract them," he said, "The shortening of trekking routes and the lack of new attractions to encourage longer stays has hindered progress."
