Nepal needs tourism to avoid going bust
A drop in bookings in May has raised concerns. The country’s current political turmoil could in fact jeopardise this crucial source of revenue. However, former Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat told AsiaNews that “the growth of tourism, despite many strikes and political instability, has sustained the country’s economy,” which “would have gone bust without tourism.”
“To my information,” he said, “20 per cent of foreign investors have left Nepal. Another 50 per cent have taken a wait-and-see attitude in view of the country’s political stability and labour action. Unless Nepal adopts a new constitution and ensures political stability, the country cannot economically sustain itself.”
After the fall of the monarchy, the country’s political leaders had agreed to a process to draft a new constitution followed by elections. However, the new constitution is not ready yet and opposition political parties have accused the current government of trying to postpone the elections to hang onto power. In this situation, protests and strikes have multiplied.
“A few general strikes and political unrest have affected tourism in the days before the constituent assembly extended its own mandate last Sunday,” NTB President Prachandra Man Shrestha said.
Political rows and the social unrest that might follow could still have serious repercussions on tourism, but he remains hopeful that tourism might continue to grow.
Nonetheless, “tourism alone cannot sustain the country’s economy on the long run because it can only bring earnings for two seasons of the year.” Hence, “the government must create the conditions to attract domestic and foreign investments.”
Meanwhile, Rabindra Pratap Shah replaced Police Chief Ramesh Chanda Tahkuri who has been forced to resign on corruption allegations, something that underscores the country’s poor security situation.
As part of its efforts to bring in tourists, Nepal declare 2011, Year of Tourism. With an increase of 23 per cent in foreign visitors, its promotional campaign has proven successful.
A total of 52,489 foreign tourists left Tribhuvan International Airport in May 2011. The number of Nepali arrivals stood at 51,610 whilst 67,908 Nepalis flew out from TIA in same month.
The number of visitors from countries belonging to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) has risen substantially (+71.5 per cent). The number of Indians visiting the mountain nation grew by 78.4 per cent (+24.1 per cent for Pakistan and +31.6 per cent for Sri Lanka.
Tourist arrivals from other Asian countries also saw a significant jump of 63.9 per cent, thanks to the improved security situation.
The number of Chinese tourists rose by more than 100 per cent. Similarly, tourist arrivals from Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and South Korea increased by 134 per cent, 115.7 per cent, 78 per cent and 94 per cent respectively. However, tourist arrival from Japan has declined by 15 per cent; mostly likely caused by that country’s earthquake and tsunami.
Overall tourist arrivals from the European countries rose by 10.5 per cent whilst the number of visitors from Australia and New Zealand jumped by 53 per cent and 129 per cent respectively.
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