It augurs well for NTY-2011

With two months still left for the year to end, the number of tourists is expected to cross 450,000 if the current trend of the last 10 months continues

SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, NOV 02 -

With Nepal Tourism Year-2011 approaching, the number of visitors coming to Nepal has started to jump significantly. The country witnessed an 18.4 percent rise in the number of tourists entering Nepal by air during these 10 months of 2010.

The number of visitors reached 364,115 from January to October compared to 307,532 during the same period in 2009. With two months still left for the year to end, the number of tourists is expected to cross 450,000 if the current trend of the last 10 months continues.

There is an encouraging sign in tourist arrivals in November with hotels showing over 95 percent bookings for the month. In 2009, the country received 378,712 tourists by air only.

In October, the country witnessed highest tourist arrivals in 10 months this year with 62,712 visitors entering the country. This is a 12 percent rise in the number of visitors compared to the figure the same month last year, according to figures released by the Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). The growth momentum is a welcome development when the country is celebrating the tourism year. Nepal seeks to bring a million tourists by both air and ground in 2011 and 700,000 alone by air.

The improved tourist arrivals, increased number of airlines, expansion of hotels, lodges and resorts and private investors injecting massive money in the sector in recent days show that the tourism sector is witnessing a boost.

However, travel trade entrepreneurs and economists say that it cannot be measured as tourism development on the basis of just month-by-month arrival numbers. “The sustainability of tourism sector in any country is determined by the parameters of tourism competitive index,” said economist Bishwambar Pyakurel. “Unfortunately, the government and its planners do not have any institution and infrastructure to develop Nepal’s future in tourism.”

Nepal’s tourism sector has come a long way since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Sherpa first climbed Mount Everest in 1953. The Himalayas have been one of the main attractions for tourists visiting this country since the duo’s ascent to the highest peak of the world.

In the 1950s, there was a shortage of hotels. Beginning in the 1960s, the government encouraged the building of hotels and other tourist facilities through loans. According to government statistics, between 1985 and 1988 the number of hotel rooms increased from under 22,000 to more than 27,000. Until 1983, tourism in Nepal was well established. It was a major source of foreign exchange earning. Mountaineering and hiking especially were of considerable interest as were rafting, canoeing. Tourism was facilitated with the opening of airways to Kathmandu and other parts of the country and easing of travel restrictions.

However, in 1989 the trade and transit impasse with India negatively affected tourism because the transport and service sectors of the economy lacked supplies. Beginning in the FY 1990, Kathmandu initiated a policy to allocate fuel on a priority basis to tour operators and hotels.

Prior to the trade impasse with India beginning in March 1989, tourism had grown by more than 10 percent per year for most of the 1980s. Between 1985 and 1988, the number of tourists increased from approximately 181,000 to about 266,000. More than 80 percent of the tourists arrived in the country by air.

However, from 1996 onwards, the country’s tourism sector faced the greatest setback. The beginning of the Maoist insurgency deterred potential tourists for a decade. However, there was no significant impact of the insurgency until 2000 because country celebrated Visit Nepal Year in 1998.

“If we analyze the tourist arrival trend before the insurgency period, the current arrival figures should be taken as just a market correction,” said Ashok Pokhrel, president of Nepal Association of Tour Operators. The current growth could be achieved due to ending of the decade-long civil war.

“The arrival figures show growth in the number of Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi tourists. We are very concentrated on the neighboring countries although these are our pocket markets,” he said adding that the focus should be on those markets that yield high-end tourists. During the tourism year, Nepal aims to bring 265,000 Indian tourists and 100,000 Chinese tourists while the European market is expected to grow by 20 percent. Yet, the worrying factor is the length of stay in the country that has been declining for the last few years although arrivals are going up.

Arjun Sharma, president of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) said the country’s tourism industry can reap benefits only if the tourists’ length of stay increases. He said that the government should consider the Nepali tourism sector a prioritized sector and increase the confidence of investors. Likewise, concerns regarding the country’s national flag carrier should be a priority. The Nepal Airlines Corporation does not have enough aircraft for international flights and its attempt to bring two airbuses has been mired in scandal.

As more than 80 percent of arrivals to Nepal are by air, without improvement in air accessibility Nepal’s tourism cannot achieve its full growth. Entrepreneurs have also been lobbying hard with the government to enable Nepal Airlines Corporation to purchase more aircraft for sustainable tourism development of the country.


Month Arrivals (2009) Arrivals (2010) Change (%)

Jan 21,944 26,071 18.80

Feb 25,181 33,492 33.00

Mar 33,005 44,431 34.61

Apr 37,819 38, 694 2.31

May 25,129 26,634 5.98

June 23,222 26,997 16.30

July 23,266 29,338 26.09

Aug 27,676 34,415 24.30

Sept 34,281 41,331 20.60

Oct 56,009 62,712 11.96

Total 307,532 364,115 18.39

(Source: NTB)