Mangal Bazaar, near the Patan Durbar Square, was not just a normally crowded place. Filled with temples, old houses with intricate wooden carvings and hundreds of curio shops, the place used to be filled with international crowds mixed with the locals, jointly admiring the beauty left behind by the kings and ancestors. It was an indication how tourism was flourishing in the country, successfully attracting patrons of history and lovers of ancient ways.
Andy’s Art Gallery was one of the few shops open on the road that used to be full of curio shops, pashmina stores, and painting galleries opened to attract the foreign eyes this week. Sitting on the steps leading up to this gallery, however, all Rabin Shrestha, the proprietor, could be seen doing was playing Candy Crush in his iPhone. Needless to say, there were no customers to welcome in his gallery, probably even for the coming year. The only reason was to trick himself and those who passed by to feel that life was getting back to normal, he says.
Tourism will no doubt be heavily affected by the disaters. The days following the earthquakes, many tourists were evacuated from the country, and those who were planning to come have cancelled.
Bishal Shrestha, supervisor of Inbound and Outbound Business at Ace Travels Pvt. Ltd., says that many bookings have been cancelled.
“This is a critical time as the tourist season in the country is about to start. Having so many cancellations now hampers the business badly. There have been no cancellations for the September-October season as of yet but we’re assuming that by the end of May, 90 percent of the previous bookings would be cancelled. There have been fewer inquiries, and we can say that the business is almost coming to a halt,” he says.
As the country relies heavily on the income generated by tourism, people in the industry are assuming the worst. Cultural sites like Patan Durbar Square and others in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur are some of the major attractions for tourists thronging the country every year, and these places are also the most affected by the eathquake. The landslides and avalanches at popular trekking destinations as Langtang and Sagarmatha paint a grimmer picture. There is no doubt that if something is not done immediately, a large portion of the population who are solely dependent on tourism will land in big trouble. Hence, the government has a huge role to play in resurrecting tourism.
Sarad Pradhan of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) says that a plan is underway to assess the situation and act accordingly.
“The Board is forming a tourism recovery committee to make plans to bring tourism back to its feet. We’ll be focusing on repairing the damages done to the sites and tourist attractions here, along with wooing the international market again. We may even hire experts for consultation on the matter as to doing it all quickly. But it’ll be too immature to ensure anything right about now,” he says.
However, reviving tourism in the country will be a huge challenge. According to Tulsi Gautam, Director General of the Department of Tourism, there can be no thought of doing anything without making sure that the roads, hotels, and other facilities for the tourists are in good condition.
“It may take from one to two weeks to evaluate the condition of the trails and lodges that fell in the affected areas. It’s too soon to say anything,” he says.
For people involved in tourism, however, all they can do is hang on to the government’s words. No tourists would think of coming to the country unless the government says that it is safe to do so, and right now, there are no such assurances for that.
However, Gautam says that they are working on sending the word to the international community. Emphasizing on the importance of the role of media, he says that they are being very careful about releasing information.
“We have to send positive messages to the potential tourists, and after the evaluation, we’ll focus on that. As the media plays an important role in tourism, we’re thinking of devising strategies to ensure that the information circulation bring good result,” he says.
While forming a positive image in the international circle is important, reconstructing the affected sites should go simultaneously.
Ram Bahadur Kunwar, spokesperson for the Department of Archaeology, says that it is going to take 5-7 years to rebuild the fallen structures.
“The collected data shows that around 60-70 temples have been completely destroyed in the disaster, and 200 temples are partially affected by the quakes. As most of the resources are focused on rescue operations right now, it may take a long time before the structures gate the attention that they need,” he says.
As the old structures are one of the main attractions of the country, hopefully, things will be done to revive them at the soonest. For an industry that is heavily dependent on the policies of of the government, its actions are of essence. With proper planning and implementation, the work can be done, and there are hopeful hands to take help from. And the importance is increased by the fact that many people depend on tourism to earn their living. Hundreds of people are employed in hotels and lodges as service providers, tour guides, tour operators and there are those like Rabin, who opened their business for catering to the tourists’ hunger for exotic art and craft. It is a bleak picture only until a decision is made, and the works start.
“This is an opportunity to revive and reconstruct the old structures in even better ways. If we work swiftly, we won’t have to look for opportunities in other fields,” Rabin says.
Nepal won’t be the only country forced to plan a great comeback after the disasters regarding tourism, however. In the past, when natural calamities struck countries depending on tourism, swift response to the problem helped them get right back. It would do good to take a leaf out of countries like Sri Lanka who sprung into action after the tsunami in December 2004 that cost thousands of lives and caused heavy damages to the infrastructure. Of course, no matter how big a role the government plays, the private sector and public are equally responsible for helping the government in taking actions.
As it has been just two weeks, it will do good to give ourselves the time to prepare while the authorities concerned figure out what to do next. Even if there are no tourists to receive in the old durbar squares and on the adventurous trekking trails, much preparation can still be done to welcome them when we can.
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