In spite of the difficulties created by the prolonged political instability, international tourist arrival to Nepal has been steadily increasing over the last 40 years. Compare the total tourist arrival to Nepal by air in 1972 (42,484) to the same figure in 2012 (598,200). This has been influenced by the growth in arrival of international tourists from every corner of the globe. UN World Tourism Organization has reported that international tourist arrivals grew by 4 percent in 2012, to reach 1.03 billion, and Asia and Pacific were the best performers. Reviewing the global and regional trends in tourism arrival, it is clear that Nepal could be a major tourist destination in South Asia with the vast tourism opportunities it provides. However, Nepal, at present, does not have a vision or a Master Plan with which to tap the growing global tourism market. [break]
The Protected Areas have been a major tourism product in Nepal, which the tourism industry promotes and sells as attractions. These are specially designated areas for the protection and maintenance of biodiversity and cultural heritage associated with that area. The protected areas aim to conserve unique natural features with diverse landscapes, rich biodiversity and prominent cultural resources. Besides protecting some of the most pristine ecosystems, the protected areas have also played a key role in tourism development and promotion in Nepal. For instance, Chitwan National Park, Annapurna Conservation Area, Sagarmatha National Park, Langtang National Park, and Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park are some of the most important tourist destinations in Nepal after Kathmandu.
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Unique geological formations, breathtaking landscapes, rich biodiversity, soothing nature and scenic beauty blended with exceptionally diverse cultural heritage in the protected areas of Nepal attract tourists from all over the world. Tourists visit parks and protected areas because such areas of their unique experiences which cannot be replicated elsewhere. Tropical lowlands to the south to dry alpine steppe environment to the north; the world’s highest mountain, Sagarmatha to the world’s deepest valley, the Kali Gandaki; the low-land Bengal Tiger and Rhinoceros to the Himalayan Snow Leopard and Red Panda; holy places such as Khaptad Ashram, Muktinath temple to highly revered Buddhist monasteries, are all housed within the protected area systems of Nepal.
Tourism has rapidly become one of Nepal’s most important development sectors as well as until recently the country’s largest and most reliable source of foreign exchange earnings. The importance of tourism in Nepal is underlined by the fact that tourism earnings comprised 7.4 percent of GDP in 2009. As elsewhere in the world, protected areas have played a significant role in driving Nepal’s tourism. However, it must be said that there is an extremely low level of investment, nearly not enough to harness tourism potential in these areas. This has resulted in an unequal distribution of tourism revenues among the protected areas of Nepal where big pieces of the pie are shared by a few protected areas.
There is tremendous potential to develop tourism in all protected areas of Nepal. With the growing inclination towards nature-based tourism, the protected areas of Nepal are an obvious choice growth of nature-based tourism, which accounts for 20-40 percent of international tourists worldwide. However, there is a need for a good tourism development policy, planning and marketing together with substantial increase in investment in tourism infrastructure to promote the PAs and make more tourists want to come visit them.
All the PAs are endowed with unique tourism attractions and have great potential for tourism development. This is proven by the fact that the PAs in Nepal attract more than 50 percent of total international visitors. However, like I said, tourism development in PAs is concentrated only in a few PAs, thereby a unique opportunity to diversify tourism is being missed. Chitwan National Park, Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, Annapurna Conservation Area, Sagarmatha National Park and Langtang National Park are top five PAs in terms of tourism. Whilst these (and other) PAs provide unique attractions for different groups of visitors, none of these PAs has been well packaged and marketed as unique tourism products. There is thus need for greater emphasis on public-private collaboration to develop and market tourism products, along with the development and improvement of existing tourism infrastructures. More studies on tourism including visitors’ impact, tourism carrying capacity, tourism potential, product packaging and marketing, etc. should be high on the priority of tourism related stakeholders in the upcoming days. The government for its part must invest more to promote and develop sustainable tourism in all PAs which will pay back to the country over time.
Tourism will continue to be a major industry worldwide. And with growing inclination towards nature-based tourism, the protected areas of Nepal will remain a major attraction for international visitors. At present, government investment in protected area management in Nepal is minimal, in comparison to other sectors. The annual investment to manage the protected areas which cover 23.23 percent of total landmass of the country is only about 0.13 percent of total annual budget. This is just not enough to manage the PA system, which represents the premier terrestrial biodiversity. Even of what little investment is being made in PAs, very little is going into tourism promotion and development.
It is important to bear in mind that tourism could be a powerful source for sustainable financing of all PAs in the future. PAs also provide direct or indirect economic opportunities to local communities and tourism entrepreneurs both inside and outside the country. Moreover, with a right plan in place, the perennially cash-strapped government could even earn precious revenues from tourism development in PAs.
Considering the tremendous opportunities and immense potential of tourism development in PAs, it has become a necessity for national tourism planners to develop, market and manage sustainable tourism in all PAs.
The author is Executive Director of National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC)
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