Services
in nepal

Tourism Entrepreneurs are hopeful after CA Election

Tourism entrepreneurs have expressed hope that the tourism industry will bounce back after the successful completion of the Constituent Assembly (CA) polls which, they hope, will bring about improvement in peace, and the law and order situation of the country.

"We are hopeful that the CA election will not only bring an overall change to the country but also create a conducive environment for hotels to operate freely and without fear," Kantipur quoted Hari Bhakta Ghimire, president of the Regional Hotel Association - Sauraha as saying. Stating that a weak law and order situation would push tourism back down, he said, "Lasting peace is necessary first to ensure any improvement in the tourism sector which has been in a major slowdown mode during the decade-long insurgency in the country."

During the conflict, some of the major hotels in Sauraha were closed down whereas others chose to run despite heavy losses due to a nominal flow of tourists.

Around five dozen tourist hotels are operating in Sauraha - the gateway to the Chitwan National Park - which is the third most popular tourist destination of the country. Suraj Mishra of the Temple Tiger lodge is also hopeful of improvement in the tourism sector after the CA polls.

"Foreigners are keeping a close watch on the ongoing peace process in Nepal and are also showing interest to make trips to this beautiful country," Mishra said. He said that the political changes in the country would have a positive impact in the economic sector.

"The number of bookings has gone up by 60 percent this year compared to last year," he said. “We will see further improvement in the arrival of tourists if the new legislative body brings lasting peace to the country."

Source: http://www.nepalmountainnews.com

Tourist arrivals on steady upswing

The tourism industry is bouncing back fast. The performance in March reflected the continuing upswing with a 17.3 percent rise in visitor arrivals.
The data issued by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) shows that some 40,032 tourists visited Nepal during the month, up from 34,122 during the same period last year.

The Indian market that was in a downturn has rebounded. The flow of Indian vacationers rose by 9 percent. A total of 7,371 Indian fun seekers came to Nepal during March, up from 6,785. The European market too was on an upswing. Arrivals from the continent showed a healthy growth of 29 percent to 14,885 persons, up from 11,564.

“The prime factors of continued growth are stable political situation and shored up confidence of both tourists and tour operators in Nepal,” said the NTB in a statement. The NTB said good air connections between Kathmandu and other international cities have contributed to raising tourist arrivals.

Tour operators said more foreign wholesalers had begun selling packages to Nepal as they didn't have to worry about safety anymore. According to the NTB data, the number of tourists from Denmark, Sweden and Norway jumped by 178 percent, 134 percent and 83 percent respectively. Some 729 Danish, 290 Swedish and 385 Norwegian holidaymakers visited Nepal.

The number of British tourists grew by 27 percent to 4,113. Tourists from France increased by 34 percent to 2,181. The growth in the number of American visitors was equally impressive, up 42 percent to 3,103 individuals. However, some Asian markets like Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Israel performed poorly.

Overall, tourist arrivals in the first three months of 2008 increased by 16 percent to 96,137 persons.

After the end of the conflict, the tourism industry has been rising steadily from the depths. Nepal welcomed a record half a million tourists in 2007.

Source: http://www.tourismnewsnepal.com