However, due to the coronavirus spread, Nepal’s tourism industry has suffered immensely. Travel restrictions, vaccines diplomacy and with widespread confusion, tourism operators were dealt a cruel blow by the pandemic.

Now, as the world is limping to normalcy, Nepal Tourism Board has jumped into the fray by coming up with an ambitious plan which would boost the recovery of the tourism across the nation. The board estimated that the landlocked country would witness 200,000 tourist footfalls by mid-July 2022.

To prop the sector, the board has announced a mammoth budget of NPR 920 million. This monetary infusion shall usher in new trends in Nepali tourism sector. In this post, let’s have a look at what changes await tourists and tourism operators of Nepal.

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1) Advertisements Blitzkrieg

The board is doubling down on the tourism advertisements by pumping in about NPR 140 million. This monetary boost will also pave for international travel marts participation across the globe. Additionally, a substantial portion of the budget which is NPR 40 million will be used for promotions through digital marketing.

The tourism board has also earmarked funds for emergency travel operations and pitched funding of NPR 20 million for proposed research of an online market system. A whooping NPR 15 million has been allotted for the development of information centers in various provinces.

The NTB is aiming ramp up Nepal’s international diplomatic missions and increase its presence in Indian and China by promoting the Himalayan nation as destination for tourists. It shall also partner with private sector players to push packages to Indians and Chinese.

2) Focus on Heritage

NTB will spending NPR 73 million to promote and implement heritage conservation. The board will also hold fairs and festivals in specific regions to improve the heritage in those regions. The fairs will attract tourists and that would bring in more revenue which will better the heritage value in long term.

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3) Pokhara-centric events

Pokhara NTB office will be recipient of NPR 45 million to boost promotion of heritage areas in the region. The office responded positively by stating that they will also use the funds to train the personnel using those funds.

4) Betterment of Human Resources

NTB has announced an overhaul of human resources in the tourism sector. They are planning to shoulder NPR 180 million of expenses which shall improve the working standard of personnel. The funds will be utilized for tourism operations.

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5) Rejuvenating Rural Tourism

The NTB has decided to propel rural tourism across the nation. They have decided to give some of tourist areas a facelift and endow them some brand value. The region which will be focused upon is Tokha in Kathmandu.

Other places which will be bettered are Myagdi, Parbat, Baglung, Gulmi, Syangja, Tanahun, Kaski, Gorkha, Dhading, Arghakanchi, Nuwakot and Kavre. These areas will be promoted as agro tourism destinations. Chure is also being considered for the facelift and the Indo-Nepal border region is being considered for religious tourism centric promotions.

There will also be travel marts across all provinces and Province 1 will be projected as health tourism hub. Lastly, Sundarpaschim province will be promoted as a farm-stay destination.

6) Giving Credit Where it is Due

There are always those who slog more than the others and shoulder more responsibilities. NTB has decided to appreciate their efforts by announcing that it shall honor the tourism operators and personnel who are in mountain tourism.  These people will be appreciated by giving them cash prizes and medals for their work. Special laurels await the people who bring in the most tourists to Nepal.

Also Read: Hidden Gems of Nepal that Every Tourist Should Explore

7) Going the Extra Mile

Kathmandu was devoid of a tourist bus station and its absence was an inconvenience for ages. The roadways in Jamal doubled up as a bus station until now and the tourists’ busses were to be found in Sorhakhutte.

NTB is planning to an end to these woes by installing a bus station in the capital city. They have gone ahead and allocated the funds for this construction.

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Despite the threat of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the Himalayan country welcomed around 3,000 international tourists last month.

According to the Department of Immigration, 2,991 tourists, including 1,940 men and 1,050 women, arrived in Nepal in July 2021 via Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). In June, the arrivals stood at 1,143.

The country-wise tourist arrivals in Nepal in July 2021 are as follows:

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According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the number of foreign visitors to the nation stood at 230,085 in 2020, the lowest in 34 years. The arrivals dropped by more than 80% in 2020.

However, the resumption of international flights and the COVID-19 vaccination drive have brought new hope to 2021.

According to the Department of Immigration (DoI) records, Nepal welcomed 8,874 foreign tourists in January 2021, the highest in a month since the nationwide lockdown. The tourists were from 121 countries, predominantly from India, China, and the US.

Top 5 Countries:

• India – 4,028
• China – 1,877
• USA – 874
• UK – 136
• Turkey – 113

Meanwhile, international travel from and to Nepal has also increased in January. According to the DoI, around 56,141 Nepalis returned home while 47,238 Nepalis traveled abroad last month.

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The Nepali tourism sector is prominently affected as the country has been forced to stay in lockdown for over four months, especially during the main spring season.

According to the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai, the Nepali tourism sector has incurred a loss of NPR 60 billion due to the pandemic.

Speaking at a virtual meeting on the resumption of the tourism sector organized by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Minister Bhattarai said that Nepal has faced a massive loss from international and domestic tourism due to travel bans and other steps taken by the government to contain the pandemic.

“It has been a daunting task to restore the lost economy as the coronavirus pandemic incurred a loss of NPR 60 billion in the tourism sector,” exclaimed Minister Bhattarai.

He said that the Tourism Ministry is continually approaching the Finance Ministry and the Nepal Rastra Bank for an economic package to restore the tourism industry.

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Meanwhile, other members at the meeting also raised some suggestions regarding the revival of the tourism sector.

CNI President Satish Kumar Moore suggested that the Nepali Government should resume the tourism sector and civil aviation services by adopting appropriate health measures.

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Likewise, CNI member and Chairman of Shree Airlines Sudhir Mittal suggested that both international and domestic flights should be resumed to restore the economic loss caused by the pandemic.

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Highlighting the growth prospects of Nepal tourism, Bharat Kumar Regmi, Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of Nepal called on the Indian business community and entrepreneurs to take advantage of the country’s investor-friendly industrial and investment policies.

Meanwhile, Babu Ram Sigdyal, Second Secretary, Embassy of Nepal pitched on the need for taking business advantage of Nepal’s potential in adventure tourism.

Sigdyal also highlighted the need for tourism cooperation between the two countries through development of special packages that woo tourists of both the nations.

Highlighting governmental policies, the experts mentioned Nepal Government’s openness to work in collaboration with private players and cited Nepal’s steps towards sustainable development.

Adding to the discussion, the Secretary of Kerala Tourism Department Rani George pitched on the need for setting up of a cultural exchange program between Nepal and Kerala.

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The accessible trekking trail launched in Pokhara was part of the three-day International Conference on Accessible Tourism in Nepal held during March 29-31, 2018.

The trek trail covers 1.3-km area of the 14-km-long trekking path across the point connecting Sarangkot and Naudanda areas, informed the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

The Nepali Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari inaugurated this accessible tourism, which was held for the first time in Nepal.

“The trail offers a magnificent view of Mt. Annapurna, Fisthtail and Manaslu,” said NTB in a statement.

A Sector of Strong Potential

Though an emerging concept, accessible tourism has got a special place in Nepal tourism, which is considering it as a sector with very high potential.

NTB is hopeful that the trail would add to Nepal’s efforts to draw more disabled and elderly tourists to the country under accessible tourism.

“The concerned authorities have pledged more support in the coming fiscal year that will begin in mid-July this year to lay down all the standards and facilities to establish the trail as ‘probably the best’ and ‘leading trail’ in Asia,” NTB said in a statement.

A Needed Push

Prior to the conference, Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO of NTB had said that the conference is aimed at spreading Nepal’s potential in becoming accessible to all people, regardless of physical limitations, disabilities or age.

“It’s difficult to find a place in Nepal for differently-abled people as Nepal tourism industry has not realized the potential. However, things can be changed if the potential of accessible tourism is realized,” double amputee Hari Budha Magar said earlier.

Statistics show 88 percent of the disabled globally embark on holiday every year, while 50 percent travel depending on the supporting facilities available at their destinations.

When it comes to country-wise spending, US spends around USD 17.3 billion annually on accessible tourism and it is USD 8 billion in case of Australia. Whereas, Europe accounts to 12 percent of its market spending on people with disabilities.

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Nearing the one million target set during the Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign, the country’s industry saw 940,218 tourists in 2017, informed the Department of Immigration (DoI) recently.

“If we count the number of Indian tourists entering Nepal through land route, the arrivals figure crosses the one million tourist arrival target,” says Raju Prasad Poudel, Information Officer at DoI.

According to Poudel, the number of unregistered Indian tourists entering through border points is very high.

Despite missing of the target, the latest arrival figures have offered needed boost to Nepali tourism industry and its entrepreneurs.

Elated at the rise in tourism figures, the President of the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) Amar Man Shakya said, “We could not bring tourists as much as we have expected. But tourist numbers have increased significantly compared to last year. It is a positive thing,” says Amar Shakya.

According to Shakya, the rise in tourist arrivals could not add to the occupancy of hotel rooms.

“Hotel occupancy was around 65 percent only during September to November. We need more tourists to fill our rooms,” Shakya adds.

Meanwhile, Santabir Lama, President of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) said, “We should not be disappointed because of our failure to meet the target of one million tourists. We were very near to the target. Hence, I consider the year 2017 as a successful year for Nepali tourism industry.”

Lama opined that the new government, as a result of parliamentary and provincial elections, would further boost the development of Nepali tourism sector.

Though Nepal saw a record number of 796,946 tourist arrivals in 2012, the country’s tourism industry suffered a major jolt because of the 2015 earthquake and again recovered in 2016 reaching 729,550 arrivals as a result of tourism promotional activities like Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign, among others.

Country-wise, India with 160,832 visitors stood as the major tourism market for Nepal in 2017, followed by China (104,664), United States (79,146), United Kingdom (51,058) and Sri Lanka (45,361) respectively, shows DoI data.

8 Lakh Arrivals Via Air!
Though the bordering tourists from neighboring countries like India travel to Nepal via land route, majority of tourists to the country prefer air travel.

According to the Immigration Office at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), more than 8 lakh (857,352) foreigners travelled to Nepal in 2017 as of December 26, 2017.

While a total of 734,686 tourists travelled to Nepal till October 2017 with a monthly average of 73,468 foreign visitors, the country couldn’t reach the target due to fall in number by almost 165,000 visitors during November and December of 2017.

Against the governmental target of at least 150,000 foreign visitors in November and 100,000 in December, the country saw only 122,666 tourists in these two months.

According to the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN), general election was one of the prime reasons for fall in tourist arrivals in the last two months as tourists usually avoid trips to the tourist destinations during election time.

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The analysts’ projection was based on the arrival trends during the first 10 months of 2017 (January-October 2017), wherein, a total number of 757,448 arrivals was recorded resulting in an over rise of 25.47 percent.

According to the Department of Immigration Nepal, an additional 153,792 foreign visitors (including overland arrivals) were observed during the period, compared to year-on-year, with a significant rise in tourists from India, United States, China and Europe.

October, the peak tourist season, witnessed the all-time high of 112,492 tourists this year and the travel trade entrepreneurs expect November 2017 to record more than 130,000 tourists breaking all the past records.

On Path to Record Arrivals

Country-wise tourist arrivals to Nepal in Jan-Oct 2017

The latest figures come as a major boost to the Nepali tourism sector that has been on the path of recovery, after facing a major hit by the devastating 2015 earthquake and a trade embargo by India.

As a result, Nepal tourism had gone to a six-year low registering only 538,970 foreign visitors that year.

However, the latest figures come as a great encouragement to the country’s tourism industry.

 “The growth puts Nepal on a path to record arrivals. This is an achievement that should make us all proud, irrespective of the 2015 earthquake, subsequent trade embargo and crumbling infrastructure at the country’s sole international airport,” says Senior Nepali Hotel Entrepreneur Yogendra Sakya.

Promotion at Peaks, Social Media a Key Role

Nepal Tourism Board and private sector firms have been putting in efforts to promote Nepal as a top tourism destination, globally.

This was evident in a recent World Travel Market 2017, a UK travel trade fair, that saw Nepal as a special attraction to the global business community.

Even though Nepal Tourism Board and the private sector have invested a lot on tourism promotion, it’s the social media that played a key role, opines Sakya.

“Social media has emerged as a key tool. People obtain a true story and true picture on social media connecting Nepal across the globe,” read a statement by Sakya.

Various foreign publications and media have also been featuring Nepal as the 2017 top tourist destination, globally.

Lonely Planet named Nepal the world’s Best Value Destination for 2017, and the National Geographic also listed Nepal among the top 10 places that deserve more travelers.

Growth Beyond Expectations

The latest figures project the growth of Nepal tourism far beyond expectations.

According to the Nepal Rastra Bank, the country earned a record revenue of Rs 58.52 billion in foreign exchange from the Nepal tourism industry in the 2016-2017 fiscal that ended in July 2017.

Meanwhile, the Nepali tourism industry is also witnessing a rapid development with a record boom in hotel construction activity across the country.

According to Hotel Association Nepal, a dozen hotels are investing more than Rs 40 billion in the industry and the average occupancy rate of hotels is also expected to cross 80 percent in 2017, above 70 percent in 2016.

Given the current growth trend in hotel construction activity, the Nepal tourism industry is expecting around 4,000 star-category rooms by 2020.

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According to an official release, “Many, at the fair, wanted to know about the situation in Nepal and about the different tourism destinations, while many inquired about the best way to promote Nepal.”

The fair has most-importantly promoted Nepal as an ‘exotic holiday getaway’ and has served as an ideal platform for the Nepali tourism sector in terms of fresh promotions and providing latest information and updates in the UK market, added the official release.

Speaking at a talk program, ‘Affluent Millennial and their engagement with Brands’, organized on the side-lines of WTM 2017, NTB CEO Deepak Raj Joshi highlighted Nepal’s strength as a powerful tourism destination that can match the travelling preferences of the millennial.

The fair, led by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) in collaboration with 23 private tourism companies, witnessed a participation of various tour operators, tourism professionals, media, photographers, bloggers, content creators and various private firms.

The Nepali delegation was led by the Nepali Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) Secretary Maheshwar Neupane and NTB CEO and was also attended by the Nepali Ambassador to UK Durga Bahadur Subedi and other officials of the Nepali Embassy in UK.

In this travel trade fair, held from November 6-8, 2017, Nepal was also lauded as the ‘Lifetime Value Destination’. 

A Special Evening for Nepal’s Botanical Species

Apart from this, another special program called ‘Nepal Evening’ was also held at the Nepali Embassy in London. British tour operators and friends of Nepal in London and the delegation of Nepal and Nepali tour operators participated in the event.

On the occasion, British botanical specialist Mark Watson from the Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh presented his research on unique flora of Nepal and highlighted that Nepal’s botanical species stay far ahead than most other countries’.

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Fighting back the major challenges posed by natural disasters in the recent past, Nepal’s tourism is on the path of recovery and hoping big this time.

Even though Nepal has been the right destination for tourists across the world, the country’s tourism sector has been facing some key issues.

Over the years, the country has allocated various resources for external tourism and as a result, large scale of outbound tourism was observed from the country. However, the domestic tourism on the other side, could not get its required attention.

Addressing such concerns, this time, NTB has decided to boost domestic tourism on par with the external tourism by promoting various local tourist destinations.

Proper tapping of the opportunities created by the increasing disposable income and spending power of Nepalis can give enough boost to the growth of the domestic tourism, opines NTB.

For this, the country’s tourism sector also expects the stakeholders to do their part in addressing key challenges such as infrastructure and investment, promotion and disaster management, and proper marketing, among others for the expansion of domestic tourism.

Towards this end, the Government of Nepal also declared Nepali year 2073 as the Nepal Travel Year and NTB has also allocated Rs 2 million for implementation of promotional activities.

NTB Hopeful of This Season

NTB has planned big for the Nepal Tourism Season 2017.

“Last year, there was an exponential growth in the domestic tourism sector as around 4.5 million internal tourists visited different parts of the country. We are hopeful that this year, more number of domestic tourists will visit different parts of Nepal,” says Deepak Raj Joshi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NTB.

According to Deepak Joshi, the board is carrying out various promotional activities in this regard to boost the domestic tourism activity during this season.

“For the development of domestic tourism, NTB is currently continuing the last year’s Travel Nepal programs and we have also added other programs such as Photo Nepal for advocating Nepali tourism through photography, Safa Nepal to promote cleanliness around heritage sites and Chulo Nepal to promote Nepali food along with food hygiene,” he informed.

Besides, NTB is also organizing programs to support home-stay services through capacity building, market linkage and other training schemes.

“NTB is only promoting Nepal in international platform. It must introduce programs to promote domestic tourism within Nepal. Furthermore, it should also engage in dialogue with the private sector and allocate budget for programs after discussions and consultation,” says Dilip Mainali, President of Chitwan Tourism Development Committee.

Seasonal Trends and Related Concerns

The domestic tourism in Nepal is majorly dependent on seasonal trends. On the flip side, these trends are also posing serious challenges to the industry players in the Nepali tourism sector.

With the tourists flocking to major domestic tourism spots only during the peak season, the tourism entrepreneurs of the country are finding it difficult to safeguard their business interests and investment through dependence on tourism.

“Due to Dashain-Tihar vacation, there is an enormous inflow of Nepali tourists. As a matter of fact, Manang is currently crowded and we are facing problems in accommodating the arrivals. On an average, we are receiving 400-500 domestic tourists per day,” says Binod Gurung, Proprietor of Hotel Yeti and President of Tourism Traders Association (TTA), Manang.

Pokhara, Manang, Mustang, Lumbini, Chitwan, , Tilicho Lake, , Rara Lake and Ghandruk are among the major tourist destinations during the peak season.

It’s Time to Identify New Destinations

Lack of a strong chain network of tourist destinations is being considered as one of the major reasons hindering the growth of domestic tourism in Nepal.

While most of the key domestic tourist spots in Nepal fall under rural parts of the country, tourism industry stakeholders pitch on the need for development of more new destinations.

Stressing on the need for promotion of domestic tourism, Bijaya Amatya, President of Kora Tours, says,” The involvement of youths in adventure tourism is very positive for the industry. However, we need to work on new destinations for adventure tourism. It is not feasible to rely on the old form of adventure sport.”

Amatya calls for a significant involvement of local communities in the initial phases of promoting rural areas as tourism spots under domestic tourism.

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