Making “Visit Nepal Year-2020” Successful

Making “Visit Nepal Year-2020” Successful

Tourism is one of the most important industries for Nepal. Nepal has been earning considerably from tourism sector. However after 2015 earthquake, the numbers of tourists visiting Nepal have not fully recovered – maybe because the renovation and rehabilitation works have not been completely finished. This year, the Government has declared the year 2020 as the "Visit Nepal Year" - to boost tourist arrival and to improve economy in different sectors like airline, hotel, travel agencies, handicrafts etc., and most importantly to improve the international image of the country.

According to the data published by the Department of Tourism, an approximately 12 lakhs tourists visited Nepal in the year 2019, of which, 23% were from India, 8% from other Asian countries (China, Korea, Thailand), 8% from USA, 11% from Europe, 3% from Australia and 46% from other countries. This year the Government has targeted for 20 lakhs tourists to visit Nepal. This is a plan to invite 66% more visitors than last year. To achieve this target, each month approximately 170,000 visitors must visit Nepal.

Research

This year in January 2020, I conducted a survey with 50 randomly selected tourists, in Kathmandu valley. The objective of this survey was to gather information about what the tourists feel about Nepal. My methodology for this survey was a questionnaire survey. The main questions were: what they liked and disliked about Nepal, and in what areas Nepal should improve. The survey was conducted in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhatapur Durbar Square areas, and visitors leaving Nepal at Tribhuvan International Airport. Breakdown of the respondents were: USA 7, UK 7, Switzerland 3, Russia 3, Japan 4, Italy 4, France 3, Australia 2, Denmark 2, India 2, Germany 2, and each from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Netherland, Serbia, Kosovo, Spain, Sri Lanka, and Sudan. All the persons who participated in this survey were happy to share their opinions with me.

Findings

On my question about the purpose of their visit, the majority of visitors were here to spend their vacation, some were here for trekking and some were on their business. Two ladies were here for volunteering works. Among the surveyed visitors, 70% mentioned that it was their first visit and 20% said that it was their second visit and remaining had visited several times. Similarly their length of stay was in average one week only.

The tourists gave their candid opinion about their likes and dislikes about being here in Nepal. For instance, they mentioned that they like the hospitality they received, the sights of ancient cities in Kathmandu Valley, mountain viewing, cultural and religious sites. I was surprised and overwhelmed by the fact that 84% of the respondents mentioned that they very much liked the kind people of Nepal and had a good impression about the kind people. I was pleased to know that Nepalese people were kind to the visitors because they consider guests as important persons as in the Sanskrit saying, "Athiti Deva Bhava". Furthermore, 46% mentioned that they liked the delicious food in Nepal. They also liked the Nepalese Culture of celebrating different festivals, associated to the nature.

I also asked what were the things that they did not like in Nepal, which is a very important for us to know. The majority of the visitors mentioned that they disliked the air pollution in the cities and unmanaged traffic in the roads. They also mentioned, wastes in roads, lack of cleanliness, stray dogs in streets, smog, noise, infrastructures, cheating by some guides, high fees for tourists, and high VISA extension costs. One visitor from UK said, "tap water is not drinkable and we need to buy bottled water all the time." Another person from USA, "almost no nature in Kathmandu", meaning that there is very little greenery, and very few parks.

Conclusion

I learnt a vast number of new things from this survey. To improve our country's image, to lengthen the days of stay, to attract them to revisit again, we need to keep in mind what the foreign visitors don’t like about Nepal. We need to work hard to reduce air pollution,  improve cleanliness, reduce noise, manage traffic etc. Tourists come here not to see what they have in their own country, but to see things that they do not have. So we need to promote tourist attraction by preserving our diverse culture, and promote natural sceneries with magnificent mountains, hills, rivers and forests. This year's target of VNY of 20 lakh tourists can only be achieved if we all works harder by arranging more facilities to tourists, by advertising that Nepal is a safe and splendid country to visit and we show respect to our visitors so that they leave with a good impression and recommend their family, relatives and friends to visit Nepal.

By:

Shradheya Krishna Manandhar

Grade 7

DAV Sushil Kedia Vishwa Bharati School, Jawalakhel

Some Photographs during Survey