One of the major agendas of the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign is to promote local tourism. More Nepalis need to explore Nepal, so believe the authorities behind the campaign. But most of the Nepalis The Week spoke to don’t think much effort has been made in that regard.

“I’m not sure if they are actually promiting it the right way. I feel a lot of Nepalis don’t even know about this campaign,” says Dr Binu Shrestha. The 28-year-old says that she heard about the campaign through posts and videos of social media influencers. She adds that there is hardly any buzz about this campaign among the Nepali crowd – besides the circle of people that is actively working in the travel and tourism sector.

Asin Pokharel, second year student at Softwarica College in Dillibazar, Kathmandu, also thinks the campaign promotions haven’t really been very impactful and seem to have been put together haphazardly. Hanging up flex posters for the campaign, getting a few celebrities to endorse it and a little buzz on social media don’t count as good marketing or campaigning in Pokharel’s books. 

Moreover, he feels that a lot of Nepalis are promoting the campaign more vigorously and enthusiastically on an individual level than official government backed agencies are doing. But that can only have so much of an impact. 

“I also think they are only targeting a particular niche with this campaign and by that I mean people who like trekking, mountain climbing and basically everything related to adventure tourism,” says Simran Piya, a third year BBA student at The British College. She adds that there are lots of people who enjoy traveling but not specifically adventure traveling.

Almost everyone The Week spoke to agreed that instead of only pushing mountain and adventure centric tourism, the campaign should also promote a variety of genres including cultural, and water sports related tourism. This would get people with all kinds of (travel) preferences intererested in traveling around Nepal. This could also work really well to lure local tourists as a majority of people The Week spoke to had visited at least one lake in the past year or so – with Rara, Gosainkunda and Shey Phoksundo being the most frequented places.

Businessman Hem Raj Dangal, 31, says  that a big hindrance to tourists and the tourism industry is how inaccessible a lot of destinations in Nepal are. The roads aren’t gravelled and are thus very bumpy, making for uncomfortable rides. Some parts are even downright dangerous and only a few cities and destinations have airports. And other than a few popular travel destinations like Mustang, Manang and Solukhumbu, most underrated destinations either don’t have proper lodging facilities, or there’s a lack of food and water.

Similarly, civil engineer Anima Piya, 25, points out that not a lot of information about the promoted destinations and trails, services like lodging and commute, is available. She says that getting actual information on these places could help potential travelers prepare themselves beforehand and also make the journey a lot more comfortable.

Furthermore, Dr Shrestha is of the mindset that a lot of Nepalis probably can’t afford to travel frequently and extensively. “For many Nepalis traveling is a luxury. The quality of life in Nepal of an average Nepali isn’t that good and it just doesn’t make allowances for travel,” says Dr Shrestha. She thinks that if the living standards of Nepalis were to become bettter and all their basic needs were met, then more people would definitely consider traveling.

However, entrepreneur Amit Khanal, 34, thinks that instead of blaming people, organizations and mediums for the lack of effort in promoting tourism, all Nepalis should come together to support this initiative. This way, Nepal can earn enough revenue to gradually develop as a country and add new attractions – which, in turn, would bring in even more tourists.

“I get that there are many people who might not be into adventure tourism but since that’s something we are known for, we should utilize it to the fullest. This will open the door to building and promoting other forms of tourism in the future,” he says.

What the campaign authorities have to say
Communications and marketing coordinator of Visit Nepal Year (VNY) 2020 campaign Pitambar Sigdel says that the campaign team and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) are 
doing their best to promote Nepal among international as well as local tourists. Although Sigdel agrees that their main focus has been international tourists, he says they are promoting the campaign through newspapers, TV, radio, in-flight magazines, social media and through other businesses and organizations among Nepalis.

Sigdel agrees that tourists need to have complete information about the destinations, trails and services and says that VNY 2020 and NTB are working on putting that out and have discussed making more digital services accessible in Nepal that they believe will be of immense help to travelers. He also mentions that a number of companies and organizations including Hotel Association Nepal, different airlines, and other bodies that deal with various fees and such have agreed to offer discounts and packages to make traveling more affordable for Nepalis.

“Building roadways isn’t our responsibility but I’m sure the concerned office is working on this issue as well. Our plan is to make 2020 the first and base year of a 10-year-plan that will help boost the tourism in Nepal. It’s a blueprint of sorts for a long term plan,” concludes Sigdel. 

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