This is the right time for Nepal to establish the country as the world’s premier tourist destination
The government of Nepal has targeted to bring in two million tourists for Visit Nepal Year 2020. This target is achievable given our tourism potentials. But we need to make consolidated efforts between the concerned government entities and private sector organizations in developing tourism infrastructure, expanding and developing new tourist destinations and applying effective tourism promotional tools.
Nepal’s adjoining geographical position with India and China, countries with over billion populations, peace loving nature of Nepali people, hospitable behavior, unity in diversity, religious and cultural harmony, tolerance, mesmerizing floras and faunas, scenic natural beauty, magnificent long mountain range including Mt Everest, birthplace of Lord Buddha (Lumbini), historical monuments and cultural heritages are its major capitals to enhance national tourism. These capitals are also the basis for Nepal to establish the country as the world’s premier tourist destination.
Furthermore, Nepal provides multiple choices to its visitors—from mountain hiking to bungee jumping, altar aircraft to mountain flights, rock climbing to paragliding, trekking to rafting, jungle safari to elephant polo, honey hunting to sky diving. These are mainstay of Nepal’s tourism.
Kerala Tourism’s first STREET project inaugurated in Maravanthu...
Linkage tourism could be another source of attracting large number of tourists. Nepal has huge potential to develop linkage tourism with China’s Tibet, with which Nepal has both religious and cultural ties since the ancient times. Tibet hosted more than 131 million tourists from across the world in 2017. If Nepal could attract even one percent of tourists from among this group, it could significantly contribute in national tourism promotion and development.
If we could establish similar linkages with countries with which Nepal has close cultural and religious affinity, it can further boost our tourism. It will then contribute to alleviating poverty, increasing economic growth, achieving balanced development, generating employment and earning hard currency. Nepal can look up to Thailand, Myanmar, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Cambodia to establish such linkage because majority of people in these countries follow Buddhism. They would surely like to come to visit Buddha’s birthplace—Lumbini of Nepal.
Governments since 1990 have laid emphasis on promoting, developing and expanding national tourism to establish this industry as a sustainable source of national income. Yet our tourism sector still remains stagnant. In the last 28 years, we have been able to bring only about 5, 00,000 tourists each year on an average.
In between, Nepal has organized various tourism events—Visit Nepal 1998, Nepal Destination Year 2003, Nepal Tourism Year 2011 and Visit Lumbini Year 2012. All these mega events were organized for promoting, expanding and developing national tourism and establishing Nepal as a world premier tourist destination for aspirant tourists from across the world.
But these events failed to attract as many tourists as we aimed for. Political instability, protracted political transition, poor law and order situation, impunity, concentration of tourism activities only at few places, poor tourism infrastructure, lack of coordination and cooperation among government and private sector organizations and inadequate national tourism promotion budget remained the stumbling-blocks for long.
Now we have overcome of many of these challenges. With the conclusion of three levels of elections and formation of governments in all levels, Nepal has created favorable environment for developing, expanding and promoting national tourism. This is the right time for Nepal to establish the country as the world’s premier tourist destination.
But we need to develop and expand national tourism activities by preserving, protecting and conserving Nepal’s historical monuments, cultural heritages and natural bio-diversity. Reconstruction of national heritages and monuments should be expedited.
Equally, we need to develop tourism infrastructures such as hotels, health institutions, land and air transportation facilities, tourist information centers in all potential tourist destinations. We need to expand our air links with as many countries as possible, at least with the countries wherefrom Nepal receives large number of tourists annually. Most of all, we have to provide reliable, safe, secure and economic multi-model national and international transportation facilities to the aspirant visitors from across the world.
The author has postgraduate from the KDI School of Public Policy and Management, South Korea
rebantakc@yahoo.com
