KEDAR DAHAL
KATHMANDU, April 14
Spending by tourists visiting Nepal has been rising even as the total number of tourists has been stable in the past two years.
Average daily spending by a tourist has increased by US$ 3.60 in one year to US$ 46.40 in 2014, according to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Tourism entrepreneurs also earned additional amount due to appreciation of US dollar in 2014. This has provided some relief for the entrepreneurs worried due to lack of rise in tourist arrival.
Income from tourism rose by over Rs 12 billion to Rs 46.37 billion from Rs 34.21 billion in 2013 even though tourist arrival fell in 2014 due to the rise in spending by them. Tourists arriving for mountaineering, trekking and adventure tourism spend more, according to entrepreneurs. They also attribute the rise in income to the hike in fees/tariff by tourism entrepreneurs due to rising inflation. “Rate for hotel rooms has also increased by 10-15 percent in recent times,” executive director of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) Prabesh Aryal says. “Fees in all sectors have increased apart from hotel rates and that have showed that spending by tourists has increased,” he adds.
He opines that Nepal is still among the least expensive destination despite the rise in spending by tourists. He feels that the tourism sector can generate more income if unhealthy competition among entrepreneurs were to end. Tourists may be put off by the high airfare for travelling to Nepal but other fees are still cheap in Nepal.
A total of 797,616 tourists had arrived in 2013, but that fell to 790,118 in 2014. Tourists used to spend US$ 40 a day in 1998 but that had fallen to US$ 28 in 2006 with tourism activities limited to urban areas due to Maoist conflict. Aryal says income from the sector has been gradually rising after start of peace process. It was US$ 35 in 2012.
He claims that tourism entrepreneurs are surviving due to rise in spending by tourists despite tourist arrival remaining stable in the past five years. Tourist arrival had increased by 21.4 percent when the government celebrated the Nepal Tourism Year in 2011 but the growth rate has not been matched in any year after that. It was 9.8 percent in 2012 but tourist arrival has been falling in the past two years.
Contribution of the tourism sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) has increased to 2.6 percent from two even as average length of stay has fallen to 12.44 days in 2014 from 12.57 days in 2013. The number of tourists coming by land has also fallen to 204,137 in 2014 from 209,744.
Major Tourism Indicators
Indicator 2013 2014
Tourists 797,616 790,118
Length of Stay 12.57 days 12.44 days
Income Rs 34.21 billion Rs 46.63 billion
Daily Spending US$ 42.80 US$ 46.40
Contribution to GDP 2% 2.6%
Source: Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation
No comments:
Post a Comment