KATHMANDU, March 31
The government has been promoting tourism by focusing on Europe even though the number of European tourists is falling in recent times due to the financial slow down there.
Global tourism is now dependent on Asian tourists but the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has yet to react to it. The number of Asian tourists visiting Nepal has also started to fall in lack of promotion there but NTB is attributing the fall to political instability and the Constituent Assembly (CA) election. Tourist arrival fell last year for the first time after the political change of 2006. But the government still does not have accurate data about the exact drop in arrival, nor does it have any plan to attract more tourists in the coming year.
“The Nepali tourism market has been affected by the economic slow down in many European countries. But NTB seems to be oblivious to the fact and is looking elsewhere to address the problem,” immediate past president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) Shyam Sundar Lal Kakshyapati said. “The tourism sector has been affected as NTB, responsible for promotion of Nepali tourism, has been focused only on Europe and America, and not paying attention to Asian tourists,” he adds. Former president of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) Pabitra Kumar Karki concurs. “There has been problem as NTB promotes and campaigns in the old fashion. They are not aware about the global trend,” he rues. “The number of Indian tourists is also falling. We are surviving due to a few Chinese tourists but NTB has yet to realize that,” he claims. He argues that tourist arrival fell in 2013 as Asians did not choose Nepal as a major tourism destination. NTB officials refused to comment on the issue.
The number of Asian tourists has dropped in Nepal at a time when they are dominating the global tourism industry. Indian and Chinese tourists are now building reputation as high-spending tourists. Tourism entrepreneurs believe that we can boost tourist arrival to two million if we can raise the number of arrival from the giant neighbors. The rate of arrival that has been rising every year since 2008 fell by 0.7 percent in 2013. Tourist arrival was 830,092 in 2012 but it was just 797,759 in 2013, including an average data for the months of September and October in lack of accurate data. The number of tourists increased by five percent globally in 2013 and it is expected to rise by 4-4.5 percent in 2014.
Kakshyapati warns that the rate of arrival will continue to fall if Nepal were to still fail to understand the global trend. “Asians are the most mobile and high-spending tourists now. NTB should not just display banners in the streets in Europe but rather go to India and China for market,” he opines. He claims that the government is unaware of the fact that Nepali tourism industry has been surviving due to Chinese and Indian tourists in recent times.
The number of Chinese, Russian and Indian tourists rose globally by 28 percent, 26 and 18 respectively in 2013. The current trend shows that the practice of European and American tourists visiting Asian countries will be reversed within a few years.
The government has been promoting tourism by focusing on Europe even though the number of European tourists is falling in recent times due to the financial slow down there.
Global tourism is now dependent on Asian tourists but the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has yet to react to it. The number of Asian tourists visiting Nepal has also started to fall in lack of promotion there but NTB is attributing the fall to political instability and the Constituent Assembly (CA) election. Tourist arrival fell last year for the first time after the political change of 2006. But the government still does not have accurate data about the exact drop in arrival, nor does it have any plan to attract more tourists in the coming year.
“The Nepali tourism market has been affected by the economic slow down in many European countries. But NTB seems to be oblivious to the fact and is looking elsewhere to address the problem,” immediate past president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) Shyam Sundar Lal Kakshyapati said. “The tourism sector has been affected as NTB, responsible for promotion of Nepali tourism, has been focused only on Europe and America, and not paying attention to Asian tourists,” he adds. Former president of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) Pabitra Kumar Karki concurs. “There has been problem as NTB promotes and campaigns in the old fashion. They are not aware about the global trend,” he rues. “The number of Indian tourists is also falling. We are surviving due to a few Chinese tourists but NTB has yet to realize that,” he claims. He argues that tourist arrival fell in 2013 as Asians did not choose Nepal as a major tourism destination. NTB officials refused to comment on the issue.
The number of Asian tourists has dropped in Nepal at a time when they are dominating the global tourism industry. Indian and Chinese tourists are now building reputation as high-spending tourists. Tourism entrepreneurs believe that we can boost tourist arrival to two million if we can raise the number of arrival from the giant neighbors. The rate of arrival that has been rising every year since 2008 fell by 0.7 percent in 2013. Tourist arrival was 830,092 in 2012 but it was just 797,759 in 2013, including an average data for the months of September and October in lack of accurate data. The number of tourists increased by five percent globally in 2013 and it is expected to rise by 4-4.5 percent in 2014.
Kakshyapati warns that the rate of arrival will continue to fall if Nepal were to still fail to understand the global trend. “Asians are the most mobile and high-spending tourists now. NTB should not just display banners in the streets in Europe but rather go to India and China for market,” he opines. He claims that the government is unaware of the fact that Nepali tourism industry has been surviving due to Chinese and Indian tourists in recent times.
The number of Chinese, Russian and Indian tourists rose globally by 28 percent, 26 and 18 respectively in 2013. The current trend shows that the practice of European and American tourists visiting Asian countries will be reversed within a few years.
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