Entrepreneurs Hope Tourism Will Bounce Back

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."
Nepal Mountain News

IATA Enters Nepal Scaring Small Travel Agencies

The scenario of travel agency industry in Nepal is about to take a big change with International Air Transport Association (IATA) entering into this market. Some of the industry analysts claim that the mushrooming and unregulated travel agency industry might finally take a more regulated and systematic shape with the entry of IATA. However, the criteria IATA has set for the travel agencies to get IATA membership have scared many smaller travel agencies. They allege that these criteria are hard for them to fulfil and are rather made for the benefit of larger travel agencies which will not help a healthy growth of the industry.

The point of the small players seems logical on the cursory look. Very few of the travel agencies know what IATA is and why it is here for. Without clarifying the market about its roles and its responsibilities, it seems unfair for IATA to ask all travel agencies to be its member within May 31, 2008. Moreover, the criteria it has set for the travel agencies to be eligible for the membership seems to be hard and some even claim that it is literally robbing them. For instance, the 7% commission that agencies used to get earlier from airlines for each ticket sold is falling down to 5% after the entry of IATA.

While applying for the IATA membership, a travel agency has to translate all the official documents of the organization into English and send it to India along with the draft for the application fee. This work would have been easier had the IATA an office set up here in Kathmandu. Moreover, the application fee is Rs. 13,000, which is non-refundable. Then IATA sends its employees for inspection who check, among other things, whether the agency keeps important documents like passports and tickets in enclosures that have concrete walls.

Another criterion requires the agency to have at least two employees who are equipped with IATA training certificate. For this purpose, IATA provides training facilities to the interested members of travel agencies but the fee charged is hefty. And the small travel agencies have objected strongly to it. “The heavy training fee gives us an impression that IATA is coming here more for profit than for helping to regulate the market,” says Raju Dhakal Managing Director of Sea Link, a travel agency.

According to his argument, if IATA is here for a noble cause, it should provide necessary trainings on a regular basis. “It is wrong to hope that travel agencies can carry out their duties regularly simply with a certificate of training. There are examples of mistakes made in e-ticketing by even large travel agencies that already are members of IATA. This clearly shows that one-time training is not enough,” he adds.
After being selected as the official member of IATA, each travel agency has to give bank guarantee of $10,000 which again is felt quite expensive.

Some people point out that IATA will stop the peculiar practice of smaller travel agencies under which they book the seats way too early and sell them off later in an inflated price. But the managers of smaller travel agencies say that IATA need not bother about this. “If it really wishes, this problem can be solved mutually through Global Distribution System (GDS) and the airline itself. If there is false booking, time limit can be fixed by which if the ticket is not confirmed the booking can be cancelled,” adds Dhakal giving the example of Etihad Air which follows this practice. If rules like this are followed by every airline, chances of such black marketing
in tickets can be avoided, he says.

However, there are some positive aspects of IATA as well. “With its entrance, many international airlines have entered Nepal”, says Saugesh Shrestha, Head of Ticketing Department of Shangrila Tours. “It fights for the interests of airlines across the globe, challenging unreasonable rules and charges, holding regulators and governments to account and striving for sensible regulation. IATA’s aim is to help airlines help themselves by simplifying processes and increasing passenger convenience while reducing costs and improving efficiency.”

Though IATA has not run its activities in full fledge in Nepal, its missions and objectives surely will prove beneficial for the travel industry in the long run, view some industry analysts. Once it starts full-fledged operation here, there will be virtually no relationship of travel agencies with airlines. Agencies will have to buy ticket stocks from IATA. Moreover, there will be special tickets made for IATA member airlines where there will be the list of the prices as well. As such, no travel agency can charge price at random, it is hoped.

Another major positive development that IATA will bring would be in credit control. Currently, travel agencies often issue tickets on credit as a result of which there is delay in payment to the airlines. This problem would reduce sharply as travel agencies will have to pay weekly to IATA for issuing tickets. “International identity and world wide connectivity is another positive aspect of being the member of IATA”, says Kamal Magar, who manages the Nepal office of Malaysian Airlines.

Nevertheless some people point out that the benefits that the IATA member travel agencies are getting are not worth the price they have paid for. There are currently 43 IATA member travel agencies operating in Nepal but many of them say that they have not felt even a marginal difference in operation except for the change in billing system and the authorization to book the tickets of Qatar Airways.

It shows that IATA has not been able to win the trust of all the players in Nepal’s travel agency industry. Larger players have already been its members while smaller ones are yet to be convinced of the benefits. “IATA on the long run is good for the country. Since many international airlines are entering into Nepal, we need such global organization to come and regulate the market. However, it should stretch the deadline it has set for travel agencies to be its member. It should realize that small players need some time to get themselves prepared to be its member and during this preparation time, it should disseminate the information regarding what IATA is and how can it make a positive difference to the industry,” says Sudip Shrestha, Assistant Officer of Marcopolo Travels. He adds, “It seems unfair for IATA to impose such a short deadline without making all the players aware about what it is and how can travel agencies benefit after being its member. Since IATA is not yet registered with the Nepal government, it doesn’t even pay any tax and neither does it employ Nepali people, it seems as if it is here to collect small change from the wallets of smaller travel agencies rather than for a noble cause it claims.”

By Bibek Subedi and Manish Bikram Shah

New Business Age Monthly

Blooming spring flowers

Nepal Tourism Night organised in Cairo

Embassy of Nepal in Cairo organised 'Nepal Tourism Night' on Monday to mark the Golden jubilee anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Nepal and Arab Republic of Egypt.

The function was also aimed at promoting tourism in Nepal, Embassy of Nepal said in a statement.

Inaugurating the function, Dr Salah Hassab Al Nabi, first under secretary of state for foreign cultural relations of Egypt, expressed hope that the programme would contribute to better understanding and promotion of Nepali tourism in his country.

Ram Bhakta Thakur, Nepali envoy to Egypt, addressing the function termed Nepal as an incomparable meeting point for tourism, culture and natural excellence. He called on the Egyptians to explore these.

A big number of local tour agents and government officers attended the function.
nepalnews.com

All women Everest expedition departs to Lukla

Frist Women Mt Everest Expedition Team

Members of all women Nepalese expedition departed to Lukla on April 17, 2008 for their assault on Mt. Everest. The First Inclusive Women's Sagarmatha Expedition 2008 is led by Ms. Susmita Maskey and plans to put women from different community at the summit of Mt. Everest.

Susmita Maskey, Nim Doma Sherpa, Nawang Futi Sherpa, Chunu Shrestha, Pema Diki Sherpa, Maya Gurung, Asha Kumari Singh Danwuar, Usha Bista, Shailee Basnet and Pujan Acharya are the members of the expedition.
Likewise, 77 years old Min Bahadur Sherchan is also attempting to reach the summit of Mt. Everest from the same expedition. Sherchan will be the oldest man to reach the summit of Mt. Everest if he reached the summit.
The expedition is supported by World Food Programme, United Nations Development Programme, Danish Embassy in Kathmandu, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and FedEx.

TAAN

Visitors Arrival in March 2008 (by air only)

The total arrival figures in March, 2008 reached 40032 up by 17.3 percent compared to the same month last year. This is stated in the figure released by Immigration Office, TIA. The arrival figures from all market segments are very encouraging except some Asian ones. Indian market, which has suffered a negative growth since last few months, has witnessed a growth of 9 %. Similarly Bangladesh (47 %) has also recorded a robust growth.

European market as a whole has registered a very optimistic figure with whopping growths from some individual markets. The arrival growths from Denmark (178 %), Norway (83 %), Spain (64 %), Sweden (134 %) and Austria (55 %) are very noteworthy. Moreover, the UK and USA markets reflect a very promising sign of growing consumer confidence on Nepal as the UK market grew by 27 % with considerable share (10 %) and the USA rose by 42 % with 8 % contribution in the total arrivals.

Most of the major tourist generating markets of Nepal shows a very encouraging picture this month despite a negative growth of Japanese market. The arrivals from France and Germany grew by 34 % and 8 % respectively.

However, some emerging markets suffered this month compared to the same month last year. Malaysia, Thailand and Israel are the markets with negative growth this month.

The total arrivals in the first three months grew by 16 % to 96137. The UK and USA markets are very much encouraging in terms of their share in the total arrivals and additional number of visitors in the last three months over the same period last year.

One of the reasons of continued growth in tourist arrivals is the stable political situation and consumer's confidence on Nepal. Good air connection between Kathmandu and other international cities has contributed substantially in improving tourist arrivals in Nepal.

From NTB

ICIMOD repeats study on Himalayan Glacier

ICIMOD repeats study on Himalayan Glacier: Research Team revisits the 1985 Dig Tsho GLOF site in Khumbu

As part of the ongoing Eco Everest expedition (www.ecoeverest.net.np), an ICIMOD research team led by Basanta Shrestha revisited the Dig Tsho GLOF site in the Langmoche and Bhote Koshi valleys to study the conditions of the Dig Tsho glacial lake and downstream river banks 23 years after the lake burst out on 4 August 1985. The first results have just been communicated from the remote valley when the team reached a contact point on 15 April.

Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) continue to be a real threat in the Himalayan region as a result of continued glacier retreat accompanied by development of lakes, aggravated by climate change. ICIMOD, together with national institutions, is continuing its work on identifying and monitoring lakes with a potential to cause GLOFs. Lakes will be mapped and monitored in a stepwise approach using satellite imagery and remote sensing, field investigations of lake sites to determine the GLOF risk, and downstream vulnerability assessments of communities and infrastructure that could be damaged.

Satellite images indicate that the Dig Tsho has reached a stable state. The expedition could see on the ground that even if the steep Langmoche glacier retreats further, the lake won't grow as only bed rock will be exposed. The present outlet of the lake is at the same level as the Langmoche river bed, and there is no longer any likelihood of a mass failure at the breach area blocking the outlet. Thus it is very unlikely that, The memories of the 1985 GLOF are still alive. Two eyewitnesses of the 1985 GLOF, Lhakpa Chhamji Sherpa of Thameteng and Ang Maya Sherpa of Thamo, told the team how they saved their lives by running uphill when the sudden flood of black water washed away the micro hydropower house, fields, and dwellings. The debris and undercutting of river banks turned many fields into wasteland and still threatens the settlements. Several landslides triggered by the Dig Tsho outburst in the Langboche and Bhote Koshi valleys are still active as the erosion due to the flood has left the slopes extremely steep.

Even though the chance of a second GLOF from Dig Tsho is slim, the threat of GLOFs in the valley remains a serious threat as there are several glacial lakes close by which are growing rapidly and could burst at some stage. Such events pose a severe threat to the livelihoods of local people and the valley economy. These lakes need to be monitored on a regular basis with in-situ measurements so that preventive measures can be taken to safeguard the mountain communities and the fragile environment. As part of the Eco-Everest Expedition, the ICIMOD scientific team will be conducting a detailed field investigation and establish a pilot early warning system for Imja lake in collaboration with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Govt. of Nepal, and Keio University of Japan.

An Eco-Everest Trust Fund has been set up to raise funds to finance further research, and monitoring and early warning systems for glacial lake outburst floods, and to help the local community to adapt to climate change and to increase their resilience. The Eco Everest Expedition calls for contributions from all.

From NTB