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An opportunity for all: Nepal is open to visitors

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An opportunity for all: Nepal is open to visitors

To create a unique and award winning experience for tourists

Kathmandu-durbar-square1

Restoring damaged UNESCO heritage structures is estimated to cost $18 million. While restoring the combined 743 damaged monuments can cost $117m. The restoring and rebuilding of all these cultural sites will take years. However, tourists can be offered new experiences to attract them to the cultural heritage sites.

With loss of our heritage assets, the challenge is how to keep tourists in Kathmandu for longer. Exhibitions or murals in front of heritage sites showing before and after images could help attract more tourists to the heritage sites.

Unesco-heritage-sites

An augmented reality application could also allow smart phone users to see pictures of what the square would have looked liked before the earthquake when the camera is at a certain space or area. There could also be narration by famous actors, information and interactive tools to create a world class and award winning multi-media experience that is promoted in Nepal and abroad. The disaster could be a new beginning.

Training

During the off season to deliver better services

Unesco-heritage-sites1

Comprehensive retraining of staff laid off and unemployed at this time (porters, waiters, hoteliers, managers, etc.) could be the ideal next step for the tourism sector to bounce back. In many ways it could be the perfect time. After good management training programs, staff and laid off employees will be ready to provide better services when the tourist season starts again after the monsoon.

Training programs will have to focus on helping entrepreneurs and employees provide newer services/products and identifying newer markets. Programs could focus on management, marketing, hygiene, customer care, etc. They could be delivered directly to affected workers as part of a revival package.

Ninety percent of the tour guides are unemployed, they have no work, they are jobless. There is insecurity among the tour guides [about] what to do. I have [asked] my colleagues, just wait for one year.

Hare Ram Baral, head of the Tourist Guide Association of Nepal

Safe Trekking Systems

To inspire confidence

safe-trekking-system

Design idea for a Himalayan mountain hut/Safe Trekking System courtesy of HMMD architecture competition initiated by Samarth-NMDP.

 As Nepal seeks assurances from international geologists and consultants on its popular trekking routes, especially the Everest and Annapurna regions that attract around 70 per cent of trekkers, the PDNA suggests creating a Safe Trekking System with standards and regulations for the quality of the product and how to manage it. Classifying trails will go a long way in enabling visitors and the industry to assess the risks associated with certain treks and areas based on altitude, length, facilities, location etc.

A Safe Trekking System requires a product that allows good communication along the trail, a monitoring system that tracks the location of visitors & staff during the trek, a responsive rescue system, appropriate shelter along the way, enterprises that offer good basic services and quality infrastructure including bridges and drinking water provisions. The Safe Trekking System also requires an effective management system that looks after classification, promotion, maintenance & investment and staff skills. During the slow monsoon season, the Samarth-NMDP programme is taking the lead towards the establishment of the Sate Trekking System with funds from UK AID/DFID.

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Source: Nepalitimes

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Tourism fraternity welcomes plan to organize Visit Nepal Year

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Tourism fraternity welcomes plan to organize Visit Nepal Year

Tourism entrepreneurs have welcomed the idea to celebrate Visit Nepal Year (VNY) campaign in 2017 or 2018, assuming that reconstruction and rebuilding works will be completed by then.

It its Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report, National Planning Commission (NPC) has suggested organizing VNY campaign in 2017 and 2018 to rebuild and rebrand Nepal’s tourism image.

Tourism entrepreneurs say the campaign would be effective in promoting Nepali tourism brand in international arena and help bring more tourists. They, however, are for implementing the campaign under public private partnership (PPP) model, saying that the government alone cannot re-brand and promote Nepal in the international market.

Kathmandu-durbar-square

PDNA report states that significant efforts and resources as well as proper coordination among key stakeholders would be necessary to ensure that foreign tourists perceive Nepal as a safe destination so that the campaign can be successful.

Bijay Amatya, CEO of Kora Tours, said extensive preparations should be done so that VNY can actually help to bring not just the regular but additional tourists. “We need to focus on promoting new destinations like Dolpa, Rara, Jumla and Ilam, and organizing more international events like Indra Matta, Mani Rimdu and Everest Marathon, among others,” said Amatya.

The report estimates the decline in revenue from entry fees at cultural monuments in Kathmandu Valley will be worth Rs 600 million (US$ 6 million) over the next 12 months. However, tourism entrepreneurs say the loss can be recovered by promoting tourism as a new tourism product as people from all over the world might be interested to come and see how survivors recover and how Nepal rebuilds its cultural heritages and monuments.

“As foreigners have always praised Nepali hospitality, they might love to come and see how Nepalis come out of rubbles and focus on reconstruction,” Raj Gyawali, a tourism entrepreneur, said. “We should focus on people and recovery. The contrast of vibrant modern society with traditional values and heritage should be promoted as foreigners love and value it as they do not have it in their country.”

Among others, tourism entrepreneurs suggest to the government to promote new destinations, provide special packages for tourists, and marketing creatively with new approach for tourism recovery.

Ramesh Kumar Adhikari, chief administrator of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), said celebrating 2017 or 2018 as VNY could help a lot in tourism recovery. “We can make VNY a grand success if we work in proper coordination and make necessary preparations,” he said. He also added that NTB was planning to organize an international expo in Nepal as per the Pokhara Declaration 2015.

Tourism entrepreneurs, however, say the country should be able spread positive message throughout the world and make people feel that Nepal is safe to visit before making any announcement regarding VNY.

Andrew Jones, vice chairman of PATA, said Nepal needs to tell the world that the situation here is not that worse as seen in international media. “Before arriving Nepal, I was expecting to see whole lot of devastation as shown in different media. But when I arrived here, I was surprised to see that most of the areas in Nepal are still intact and are untouched by the quake,” Jones told Republica in a recent interview. He also suggested the government and tourism entrepreneurs to promote attractions, facilities and areas of heritage and culture, and natural beauty, that have not been affected by the earthquake.

Ramesh Prasad Dhamala, president of Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), said that government should focus on reducing aviation turbine fuel, landing and parking charges at Tribhuwan International Airport so that the air fare will be reduced automatically which will definitely help bring in more tourists. “The national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation should be strengthened, so that it can fly to different destinations in the world offering cheap fares. This will help us attract more tourists,” he added.

The recovery strategy for tourism in PDNA has four distinct phases — identifying and assessing unaffected and safe tourist destinations, creating a ‘safe trekking system’ for mountain tourism in Nepal, rebuilding and redeveloping damaged areas, and identifying and developing new tourist products and services.

If these things can be focused sequentially, Nepal will be ready to host more tourists very soon.

“Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011 campaign helped us to bring 300,000 additional tourists. If campaigns like VNY can be launched with a strong message, it is not difficult to bring more tourists here,” Yogendra Shakya, national coordinator of NTY, said.

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Source: Republica

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Pokhara hotels unaffected by quake

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Pokhara hotels unaffected by quake
Landmark-pokhara-hotel

Hotel Landmark Pokhara

Hotels and restaurants of Pokhara have not suffered any damage due to the earthquake of April 25.

Tourism entrepreneurs of the lake city say all hotels, ranging from five-star to tourist standard, are safe. Bharat Raj Parajuli, president of Paschimanchal Hotel Association Pokhara (PHAP), said the association has not received report of physical damage suffered by hotels in Pokhara so far. “Though the lakeside area wars a deserted look as there are not tourists, our hotels and restaurants are safe,” he added.There are around 400 hotels in the lakeside area. Among them, 300 hotels are affiliated with PHAP.

Following the earthquake, PHAP had asked its member hotels to submit report of physical damages caused by the earthquake. It has also directed its members to make assessment of the hotel structures from engineers.

“All our member hotels have already made physical assessment of their structures. None of the hotels have reported any damage. So we have concluded that all hotels here are safe,” he added.

Engineer Rijan Poudel, who made assessment of more than a dozen hotels, said he found no problem in structures of the hotels that he assessed. “I can say that these hotels are perfectly safe,” he added. “Even tall buildings are safe to stay.”

Hotel Landmark Pokhara

Hotel Landmark Pokhara

Sharada Mohan Kafle, an engineer with Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan Office, also said they have found no problem in hotel buildings. “Some big hotels have submitted applications to us, seeking our help for technical assessment of their buildings. Our engineers have not found any problem in buildings that they have assessed so far,” he added.

Tourism entrepreneurs say tourists will not have to worry about hotel buildings. “All the hotels in Pokhara are safe. Thus we have invited tourists to come here and stay without any tension,” Ganesh Bahadur Bhattarai, coordinator of Pokhara Tourism Recovery Committee, said.

source: Republica

25,000 tourists to Kailash affected

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25,000 tourists to Kailash affected

Around 25,000 foreign tourists planning to visit Kailash Mansarovar via Nepal have been stopped after the Chinese government blocked all the border points with Tibet citing the earthquake. Around 25,000 foreigners had booked for tour of Kailash Mansarovar through 38 tour and travel companies.

kailash-darshan-yatra

No tourist, however, has cancelled booking until now, according to President of Kailash Tour Association Prakash Shrestha. Tourism entrepreneurs demand that the tour should be opened even by opening the Hilsa point of Humla. Shrestha says taking 25,000 foreigners to Kailash Mansarovar via Nepal will be a huge relief at a time when tourism sector has been ravaged by the earthquake. The entrepreneurs have informed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Department of Tourism and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) but there has not been any breakthrough. “25,000 tourists are still ready to come once we give them time,” he adds.

China has closed border points in Tatopani, Rasuwa and other places stating there can be landslides. Shrestha says the entrepreneurs have urged the government to take initiative to allow tourists to visit Kailash Mansarovar by helicopters or on foot from Nepalgunj-Surkhet. Indian, Russian, Malaysian and other European tourists have booked to tour Kailash Mansarovar. Around 80 percent of tourists going to this area are Indians. Around 40,000 visit Kailash Mansarovar via Nepal every year.

The time from May-July is considered the main season to visit Kailash Mansarovar. Nepali tourism entrepreneurs make all arrangements for tourists to visit Kailash Mansarovar. Around 80 percent of these tourists remain in Nepal for 7-10 days while the rest 20 percent remain for 4-7 days. Tourists visiting Kailash Mansarovar spend the most after those coming for mountaineering.

Entrepreneurs claim that over 100,000 will get employment if these 25,000 tourists were to come to Nepal immediately. “The government must, therefore, facilitate it. Many hoteliers and tourism entrepreneurs will benefit if these 25,000 stranded tourists were to be brought to Nepal.

Tourism Ministry seeks help of Foreign Ministry

The Tourism Ministry has written to the Foreign Ministry urging it to take diplomatic initiative with the Chinese government to open the border with Tibet. Director General of the Department of Tourism said the initiative is being taken at the level of minister. “The road toTatopani has already been opened. We are trying to bring these 25,000 tourists to Nepal by any means,” he added.

Source: karobardaily

Nepal tourism appoints son of Edmund Hillary to promote Everest mission

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Nepal tourism appoints son of Edmund Hillary to promote Everest mission

After the Earthquake Nepal’s Everest missions has taken a back seat as people are weary to scale the peaks in fear of avalanches. The Nepal government on May 28, 2015 observed the international Everest Day marking the conquest of the world’s highest peak by Edmund Hillary and Tanzing Norgey Sherpa 62 years ago. The day was observed with intentions of reviving tourism in the country.

Peter-Hillary-son-of-Edmund-Hillary

In a bid to call back tourists the Nepalese Tourism Minister Kripasur Sherpa appealed to international tourists to visit the country. He assured them that there are still many safe and beautiful places which include heritage and cultural sites along with trekking trails that have remained intact despite the devastating earthquakes.

The minister looked for support from the private sector. He felt that together the public and private sector can rebuild the losses that Nepal has met with.

The mountaineering sector was suffering losses since 2013 when 16 mountain guides were killed in April 18. But the Earthquake in central and North-West Nepal was hit by the devastating earthquakes. The avalanche from the quake killed 18 people which had 5 foreigners and all expeditions had to be brought to a halt.The area is under grave threat owing to melting glaciers and continued avalanches. The country needs faith and support from international tourists and climbers to get things back in tempo.

Before the quakes thousands of climbers trekked the Everest each year providing employment to the Sherpas and bringing millions of dollars for the Government. If Everest mission should stop it would amount to grave losses for the government. So the government has appointed 19 goodwill ambassadors which include Peter Hillary, son of Edmund Hillary, Jamling Tenzing, son of Tenzing Sherpa, Junko Tabei, the first women Everest Summiteer from Japan and Reinhold Mesner, Italy, who climbed the Everest without oxygen for the first time. They will help promote tourism in Nepal.

Source: Travel And Tour World

Over 70% of glacier volume in Everest region could be lost by 2100

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Over 70% of glacier volume in Everest region could be lost by 2100

A team of researchers in Nepal, France and the Netherlands have found Everest glaciers could be very sensitive to future warming, and that sustained ice loss through the 21st century is likely. If greenhouse-gas emissions continue to rise, glaciers in the Everest region of the Himalayas could experience dramatic change in the decades to come according to a research published in The Cryosphere, an open access journal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU).

Instruments used to study the Mera Glacier region of the Dudh Kosi basin Credit: Patrick Wagnon

Instruments used to study the Mera Glacier region of the Dudh Kosi basin Credit: Patrick Wagnon

“The signal of future glacier change in the region is clear: continued and possibly accelerated mass loss from glaciers is likely given the projected increase in temperatures,” says Joseph Shea, a glacier hydrologist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal, and leader of the study.

The glacier model used by Shea and his team shows that glacier volume could be reduced between 70% and 99% by 2100. The results depend on how much greenhouse-gas emissions continue to rise, and on how this will affect temperature, snowfall and rainfall in the area.

“Our results indicate that these glaciers may be highly sensitive to changes in temperature, and that increases in precipitation are not enough to offset the increased melt,” says Shea. Increased temperatures will not only increase the rates of snow and ice melt, but can also result in a change of precipitation from snow to rain at critical elevations, where glaciers are concentrated. Together, these act to reduce glacier growth and increase the area exposed to melt.

Glaciers in High Mountain Asia, a region that includes the Himalayas, contain the largest volume of ice outside the polar regions. The team studied glaciers in the Dudh Kosi basin in the Nepal Himalaya, which is home to some of the world’s highest mountain peaks, including Mt Everest, and to over 400 square kilometres of glacier area. “Apart from the significance of the region, glaciers in the Dudh Kosi basin contribute meltwater to the Kosi River, and glacier changes will affect river flows downstream,” says Shea.

Changes in glacier volume can impact the availability of water, with consequences for agriculture and hydropower generation. While increased glacier melt initially increases water flows, ongoing retreat leads to reduced meltwater from the glaciers during the warmer months, with greatest impact for the local populations before the monsoon when rainfall is scarce. Glacier retreat can also result in the formation and growth of lakes dammed by glacial debris. Avalanches and earthquakes can breach the dams, causing catastrophic floods that can result in river flows 100 times greater than normal in the Kosi basin.

To find out how glaciers in the region will evolve in the future, the team started by using field observations and data from local weather stations to calibrate and test a model of glacier change over the past 50 years. “To examine the sensitivity of modelled glaciers to future climate change, we then applied eight temperature and precipitation scenarios to the historical temperature and precipitation data and tracked how glacier areas and volumes responded,” says study co-author Walter Immerzeel of Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Part of the glacier response is due to changes in the freezing level, the elevation where mean monthly temperatures are 0°C. “The freezing level currently varies between 3200 m in January and 5500 m in August. Based on historical temperature measurements and projected warming to the year 2100, this could increase by 800–1200m,” says Immerzeel. “Such an increase would not only reduce snow accumulations over the glaciers, but would also expose over 90% of the current glacierized area to melt in the warmer months.”

The researchers caution, however, that the results published in The Cryosphere should be seen as a first approximation to how Himalayan glaciers will react to increasing temperatures in the region. Patrick Wagnon, a visiting scientist at ICIMOD and glaciologist at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement in Grenoble, France, says: “Our estimates need to be taken very cautiously, as considerable uncertainties remain.” For example, the model simplifies glacier movements, which impact how glaciers respond to increases in temperature and precipitation.

But the researchers stress in the paper that “the signal of future glacier change in the region is clear and compelling” and that decreases in ice thickness and extent are expected for “even the most conservative climate change scenario.”

The research team is composed of J.M. Shea (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development [ICIMOD], Kathmandu, Nepal), W.W. Immerzeel (ICIMOD and Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, the Netherlands), P. Wagnon (ICIMOD and Laboratoire d’étude des transferts en hydrologie, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Grenoble, France), C. Vincent (Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l’Environnement, CNRS, Grenoble, France) and S. Bajracharya (ICIMOD). – ICIMOD

For more info : www.the-cryosphere.net