In 2008 I was in Madrid to promote Nepali tourism, along with a big herd of travel industry giants from Nepal. While on our way to the hotel we met a taxi driver, a native of Madrid, who only spoke Spanish. He repeatedly asked me many things in Spanish despite knowing that I didn’t understand his language. After a flurry of questions I could guess that he was asking me where I was from. [break]
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To placate his inquisitive mind, I tried my best to explain about Nepal through words and hand gestures: I was trying to hint of mountains. It was only after half an hour of our drive that I was able to make him understand that I came from the land of Everest, which he had incidentally seen on TV a few weeks ago. This wordless conversation made me understand how closely our country’s identity is tied to the Himalayas, besides our distinctive cultural and religious identities. The unique selling points of Nature and Culture can thus be termed Nepal’s biggest strengths.
The prospect of Nepali tourism is not very bright these days. Although the number of tourists is increasing, overall revenues are not. Of late, we have been witnessing sporadic incidents of tourist casualties, thefts and other concocted stories related to robbery and burglary of foreign tourists. These do not necessarily deter the movement of people. However, they certainly hinder word of mouth publicity through which Nepal reaps maximum benefits. These trends might put off repeat visitors whose stake in Nepali tourism is nearly 30 percent. These shortcomings also suggest that the new emphasis should be more on local supervision, policing and hospitality than mundane promotional activities overseas.
The definition of tourism used to be constricted within the realm of three “Fs”—fun, foreign exchange and foreigner. However, it has transcended the conventional realms and today, and defining tourism in one sentence is impossible. It can only be defined in relative terms. But our Laws and Regulations still take the traditional approach in defining tourism. They fail to take into account the fact that tourism now touches almost all aspects of our lives.
Nepal’s unique topography, friendly people and breathtaking natural beauty have always enticed tourists from the world over. Foreigners in the past started coming in view of the country’s astounding richness in flora and fauna. The process of introducing this country to the outsiders through our enticing rich natural endowments was started by pioneers like Herzog, Boris Lissanevitch, Edmund Hillary and Jim Edwards. They all came here as visitors but realizing the business prospects of tourism in Nepal, stayed behind to promote Nepal abroad. Later, Nepali entrepreneurs started imitating the business acumen of these foreigners and started exploring their luck in this trade. As investments increased, herds of tourists started visiting this country.
A resilient industry, Nepali tourism has so far survived with continued commitment of our politicians, civil servants and entrepreneurs and most importantly, the common people. We continue with the age-old tradition of treating our guests as gods. The moment we abandon this time-honored Nepali tradition of hospitality, the whole industry will come crashing down irrespective of the amount of resources we pour into it.
We have undergone many upheavals in the past, most notably during the 10-year-long insurgency, but still Nepal never went without tourists. Even the then insurgents treated tourists with warmth and minimal decorum even though they also extracted hefty donations.
Nonetheless, the time has come to change our emphasis from increasing the absolute number to facilitating tourists who are already here. This can contribute immensely to increase the number of repeat visitors, a substantial cohort. The new focus should be on increasing the average length of stay, promoting new tourist hotspots and equitable distribution of tourism income and benefits.
Taking good care of foreign guests can lead to sustained growth and make the industry more sustainable in the long run. It has been estimated that even simple measures like placing proper signage in tourist areas, affectionate hospitality in airports and tourism service centers may help double the number of repeat visitors. We should thus concentrate on retaining existing market more than diversifying into new markets which would ask for investment of substantial additional resources.
We have expanded enough. Now is the time to consolidate.
The author is Spokesperson of Nepal Tourism Board
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