POST REPORT
KATHAMANDU, DEC 13 -
The good news is that the country is witnessing a significant rise in tourist arrivals. The bad news is, foreign exchange earning from travel trade is declining.
During the first three months of the current fiscal year, foreign tourist expenditure plunged by 33.4 percent to Rs 4.72 billion from Rs 7.09 billion during the same period last year. The country saw the number of tourists increase by 24.3 percent, 20.6 percent and 12 percent in August, September and October, respectively, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. While analysing the annual income figures, a meagre
growth of 0.63 percent was recorded in earnings from foreign tourists
in FY 2009-10. The income in
2009-10 stood at Rs 28.13 billion, whereas it was Rs 27.95 billion in the previous year.
The figure which includes the income from tourists every month in its report on macro-economic situation of the country has surprised the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) also.
“We are surprised at the figure that has come at a time when the country is receiving an increasing number of tourists,” said Yubaraj Khatiwada, governor of NRB. It is disappointing for the central bank which has been working hard to reduce the Balance of Payment (BoP) deficit. The BoP deficit has gone up in recent months against the expectation of the central bank. The BoP deficit rose to Rs 6.8 billion as of mid-October from around
Rs 4.36 billon as of mid-September. The governor was not sure
whether it was due to the shortened length of stay of tourists or
the country’s failure to receive high spending tourists.
An NRB official also suspected that the companies involved
in foreign exchange business
might not given the correct data on income from tourists. “They may have classified the income from tourists in other categories while reporting to the central bank,” said a senior NRB official.
For Ashok Pokharel, president of Nepal Association of Tour Operator, the figure is not surprising. “Low income from tourists is a result of the flawed policy of those who are launching promotional activities. “There is no component of earning in the promotion of Nepal Tourism Year-2011,” he said. “The promotional activities are just focused
on how to achieve the target of bringing one million tourists during the tourism year.”
He stressed on the need for programmes that would lengthen the stay of tourists, encourage them to spend more and attract high end tourists. Big hotels are, however, not feeling hit. “Our income has grown with the increased charge and the trend of their stay in the country has remained the same,” said Bharat Joshi, sales and marketing manager of Hotel Yak and Yeti.
The figure presented in the Economic Survey-2010 also gives a glimpse of why income from
tourists is witnessing a decline. The stay of tourists and their per day expenditure both have gone down as of mid-January 2010 as compared to mid-January 2009, according
to survey. The length of stay went down to 11.6 days from 11.78 days and the per day expenditure fell to US$ 36.88 from US$ 48.68.
The size of the income from tourists as compared to the gross domestic product also went down to 2.4 percent in FY 2009-10 from 2.8 percent in the previous year, according to the report.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
MoTCA told to nix Air Arabia’s M’asia flights
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHAMNDU, DEC 13 - The parliament’s International Relation and Human Rights Committee on Sunday directed the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) to revoke its decision of awarding the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector to Sharjah-based Air Arabia under the fifth freedom rights. With this decision, Air Arabia’s plan to start the Sharjah-Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector has suffered a setback.
The committee’s decision comes amid pressure from Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) and lawmakers.
MoTCA on Dec. 2 had allowed Air Arabia to operate six flights per week in the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector under the fifth freedom rights. The fifth freedom rights allow an airline to carry passengers from its own country to another country through a third country.
NAC Act-1962 has provisioned that the government should get the consent of the NAC before finalising, renewing and amending Air Service Agreement (ASA) with any country, said the committee.
“We came to the conclusion that the ministry violated the act by allowing Air Arabia to operate the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur flights under the fifth freedom rights without the consent of NAC,” said Padma Lal Bishwokarma, chairman of the committee.
The Committee also directed the ministry to amend the existing ASA to safeguard the country’s interests. “The ASA should be amended to ensure that the government of Nepal has its own reservation rights on any lucrative air points
that are not transferable to other country’s airlines under the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights,” said the committee. It also directed the ministry to find other alternative measures to resolve the issue.
The issue of Air Arabia started after UAE’s Department of Civil Aviation wrote a letter on Sept. 28 to the MoTCA seeking its consent to give Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur- Kathmandu sector to Air Arabia under the fifth freedom rights. UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (CAAN) forwarded a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal on the same issue on Nov. 23. MoTCA made the decision to grant this route to Air Arabia on Dec. 2.
However, the NAC opposed the ministry’s decision saying it would hurt its business in the most lucrative sector. The Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector has emerged as the one of the most lucrative sectors for NAC over the last two years. NAC earns Rs. 8 million from a single flight, thanks largely to Nepali migrant workers.
With the continuous surge in the number of Malaysia-bound migrant workers, the NAC doesn’t want to share this sector with other airlines. Air Arabia had also targeted migrant worker passengers.
Air Arabia was set to start service in this sector from Dec. 16. The airline had begun selling tickets through its two official agents in Kathmandu.
Despite the committee’s decision, the ministry and the CAAN are adamant that they have not done anything wrong. They had claimed that their decision was based on the weak performance of NAC that currently has only one Boeing.
According to the ministry, the decision was taken considering the lack of sufficient flights in this sector. The ministry was of the view that allowing Air Arabia in this route would bring in more tourists during Nepal Tourism Year-2011.
Tourism Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari defended the ministry’s decision in the committee’s meeting on Sunday.
“We took this decision to better air connectivity between Nepal and Malaysia considering the NAC’s present status and Nepal Tourism Year 2011,” said Bhandari. He added that if Air Arabia is not allowed the permission under the fifth freedom rights, it would be a violation of ASA.
KATHAMNDU, DEC 13 - The parliament’s International Relation and Human Rights Committee on Sunday directed the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) to revoke its decision of awarding the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector to Sharjah-based Air Arabia under the fifth freedom rights. With this decision, Air Arabia’s plan to start the Sharjah-Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector has suffered a setback.
The committee’s decision comes amid pressure from Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) and lawmakers.
MoTCA on Dec. 2 had allowed Air Arabia to operate six flights per week in the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector under the fifth freedom rights. The fifth freedom rights allow an airline to carry passengers from its own country to another country through a third country.
NAC Act-1962 has provisioned that the government should get the consent of the NAC before finalising, renewing and amending Air Service Agreement (ASA) with any country, said the committee.
“We came to the conclusion that the ministry violated the act by allowing Air Arabia to operate the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur flights under the fifth freedom rights without the consent of NAC,” said Padma Lal Bishwokarma, chairman of the committee.
The Committee also directed the ministry to amend the existing ASA to safeguard the country’s interests. “The ASA should be amended to ensure that the government of Nepal has its own reservation rights on any lucrative air points
that are not transferable to other country’s airlines under the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights,” said the committee. It also directed the ministry to find other alternative measures to resolve the issue.
The issue of Air Arabia started after UAE’s Department of Civil Aviation wrote a letter on Sept. 28 to the MoTCA seeking its consent to give Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur- Kathmandu sector to Air Arabia under the fifth freedom rights. UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (CAAN) forwarded a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal on the same issue on Nov. 23. MoTCA made the decision to grant this route to Air Arabia on Dec. 2.
However, the NAC opposed the ministry’s decision saying it would hurt its business in the most lucrative sector. The Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector has emerged as the one of the most lucrative sectors for NAC over the last two years. NAC earns Rs. 8 million from a single flight, thanks largely to Nepali migrant workers.
With the continuous surge in the number of Malaysia-bound migrant workers, the NAC doesn’t want to share this sector with other airlines. Air Arabia had also targeted migrant worker passengers.
Air Arabia was set to start service in this sector from Dec. 16. The airline had begun selling tickets through its two official agents in Kathmandu.
Despite the committee’s decision, the ministry and the CAAN are adamant that they have not done anything wrong. They had claimed that their decision was based on the weak performance of NAC that currently has only one Boeing.
According to the ministry, the decision was taken considering the lack of sufficient flights in this sector. The ministry was of the view that allowing Air Arabia in this route would bring in more tourists during Nepal Tourism Year-2011.
Tourism Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari defended the ministry’s decision in the committee’s meeting on Sunday.
“We took this decision to better air connectivity between Nepal and Malaysia considering the NAC’s present status and Nepal Tourism Year 2011,” said Bhandari. He added that if Air Arabia is not allowed the permission under the fifth freedom rights, it would be a violation of ASA.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)