Though the formal opening of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011 is scheduled to take place on Jan 14, the tourism year has already kicked off amid widespread skepticism regarding our ability to meet the target of attracting 1 million tourists in this calendar year. Looking at how things are at present and how things look in the coming months, it seems like the target is a wee bit difficult to achieve.
To start with, we have not been able to really market and advertise NTY 2011 as much as we should have. Tourist numbers will certainly not double on its own. Such an ambitious target has to be backed by great promotions and offers, which are far and between as of now. Those in charge of promoting the concept though have a valid reason when they rue that they could not carry out the marketing and promotional activities because they were resource-strapped. The budget, which had to separate money for the promotion of the special year, was endorsed almost five months after schedule in November due to wrangling among the major political parties. That delayed every plan. In a bid to woo Indian and Chinese tourists, intense media campaigns will now start in the two countries but we have to really wait and watch if the last minute efforts will have a bearing on the tourist arrival figures of 2011.
Plenty of other problems abound. To begin with, we do not have sufficient number of flights to bring in so many tourists and the fact that our national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines (NA), is on the throes of its deathbed does not help the cause either. NA just has two Boeings at its disposal and it no longer flies to important destinations such as Frankfurt, London and Osaka. Even if we somehow manage to convince other international airlines to chip in, our only and archaic international airport Tribhuvan International Airport will not be able to handle the flow of tourists. Add insufficient hotel rooms to the list and that gives a pretty good picture of how huge the gap is between our aspiration and our ability.
Going by how politics has been unfolding in recent times, it pretty much looks like it is going to be another big reason that will retard the flow of tourists. The increasing polarization between top political parties points to a chaotic political climate in the coming months and that is certainly going to discourage a lot of potential tourists from choosing Nepal as a holiday destination. In the tourism business, things do not have to happen. The likelihood of something happening is enough to negatively impact the industry. Though political parties have agreed not to call a banda during NTY 2011, in the event of the political climate heating up, such pledges may quickly be forgotten.
We, however, pray that our crystal gazing will prove to be wrong and that a million tourists, and even more, will actually come to see and feel the beauty of Nepal. Tourism has the potential to lift millions of Nepalis out of poverty but let us nurture and give it the attention it deserves. Making lofty plans alone is certainly not enough.
