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Nepal's Tourism Industry Looks To Peace For SurvivalMonday - 24th October 2005 |
| From P. Vijian KATHMANDU (Nepal), Oct 23 (Bernama) -- It was 4.30am and the first light of dawn shimmered on the Sarangkot hills. Braving the chilly October winds, Hira Thapa together with a young helper opened the wooden ramshackle garment showroom to start her business. "Namasta, ma'am, handmade shawls, ma'am. Please come, come have a look" was Hira's morning mantras but they just melted in the thick morning mist. Sarangkot hills in Porkhara, nearly 1,600 metres above sea level and about 198km from the capital Kathmandu, is a well-known tourist spot where foreigners enjoy a panoramic view of the snow-laced Annapurna mountain range and the lovely sunrise. Sarangkot is also where 27-year-old Hira, a former science graduate turned entrepreneur, and her two children live. She makes her living by selling hand-spun garments -- colourful pasmeena shawls, scarves, bed covers, souvenirs -- to tourists. But after the massacre of the royal family in Kathmandu in 2001, Hira's business went downhill as tourist arrivals dwindled. Now, to make ends meet her husband works in Iraq. In June 2001, King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya, Prince Niranjan and Princess Shruti along with eight others were shot dead by Crown Prince Dipendra after a dispute over his choice of bride. The royal massacre and the violence of the decade-old Maoist rebellion have dealt a brutal blow to Nepal's once-flourishing tourism industry, a key source of foreign exchange earnings. Over 500,000 foreign tourists visited the tiny land-locked Himalayan kingdom in 1999 but the number dwindled to only half that figure last year, although tourist arrivals are picking up again. "Tourism is the single largest foreign exchange earner for the country bringing in about US$193 million yearly, which is three per cent of the GDP (gross domestic product)," said Nandini Lahe Thapa, director of tourism and marketing promotion of Nepal Tourism Board. The industry directly and indirectly employs some 200,000 people and one million others have jobs closely tied to tourism, from trekking agencies in Kathmandu to rural women in the villages selling fresh vegetables and eggs to trekkers. From hotel operators in Nagorkot, another popular tourist destination, to caretakers of the Royal Chitwan National Park and book sellers, tailors and waiters in the prosperous Thamel Road in Kathmandu, the future of the tourism industry remains uncertain. "Before we did not even have time to eat our lunch, tourists just kept coming for books. Now it is so quiet. The political situation has really affected our people and our business," lamented a bookstore owner in Kathmandu. But the three-month truce announced unilaterally by the Maoist insurgents in early September as a mark of respect for the Dasain, a popular harvest festival, has been a temporary blessing to the tourism trade. Now, ardent mountain trekkers and holiday-makers are arriving in larger numbers, especially in October which is an ideal month for trekking and sight-seeing. "During the ceasefire we have full bookings but occupancy will fall by 50 per cent once the ceasefire ends, just like last year. We don't know what is going to happen when the ceasefire ends in November," said the manager of a three-star hotel in Pokhara. According to Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Civil Aviation and Tourism, 27,511 visitors arrived in September this year compared to 18,785 the same month last year. "In the last three months there has been a tremendous increase in tourist arrivals and we are expecting an eight per cent growth this year," said Nandini, adding that they were expecting 400,000 foreign tourist arrivals annually again. "We suffered a lot from the negative publicity in the international media and people were very scared to come to Nepal. But it is not true that Nepal is unsafe for tourists. The Maoists welcome tourists. Not a single tourist has been kidnapped or attacked," she added. Still, the future of Nepal's tourism business hinges on the full restoration of peace. The uncertainty keeps Nepal's business community pessimistic about the future. "Now Thamel Road is busy with tourists but it may soon be empty once the ceasefire ends. Tourists will be afraid to come to Nepal and definitely our business will drop. "Only long-term peace can bring back the glory of Nepal as a famous tourist destination in the world," says an Indian-Muslim tailor. -- BERNAMA |
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