( Photo : Kul Chandra Neupane )
Trekkers and high-altitude porters rest at a memorial cairn (left) and view Mt Ama Dablam and Koungtenga (right small) at the Babuchhiri Memorial Park atop 4,900 meter-high Thukla Hill some 30 kilometers from Namchebazaar in the Everest region, recently. A cairn has been erected in the park for every mountaineer who died in the Everest region.
After remaining dormant for more than a decade due to the insurgency, a hunter's paradise is once again gaining popularity after the government permitted hunting licenses this year.
Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve (DHR), the only hunting reserve in the country, was opened for licensed hunting in fiscal year 2007/2008.
According to Surya Bahadur Pandey, management officer at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), with the issuing of hunting licenses, interested parties are very keen to come to Nepal for hunting at DHR.
"We have already received more than 10 names for hunting license," he said.
Pandey said, since the announcement of hunting licenses in February, three licenses have already been taken. Similarly, two other interested parties including Tracks and Trail and Nepal Wildlife Adventure have submitted candidates' names for hunting licenses.
"Most of the licenses sought are for hunters are from Austria and America," he said.
According to Pandey, government gave permission for licensed hunting after finding a healthy population of game including the blue sheep, also known as jharal, which is prized by hunters. The government has issued a hunting quota of 24 for this fiscal year.
A survey done between May 25 and June 12, 2007 found a total of 852 blue sheep in six specified hunting blocks at DHR. The six hunting blocks in the reserve include Sundaha, Seng, Dogadi, Phagune, Barse and Gustang.
Out of the 852 blue sheep counted, 126 were termed trophy rams, 92 medium rams and 45 young rams. The trophy rams are ideal for hunting but the government can permit the hunting of all rams above 10 years of age.
According to DNPWC sources, hunting is allowed in the reserve under strict monitoring by officials and licensed guides who accompany the hunters. Hunting licenses are provided during periods from February to April and August to October.
According to the statistics released by the Garment Association - Nepal (GAN), Nepali readymade garment manufacturers exported a mere US$ 8.03 million worth of products to the US during the period. During the same period last year, their shipments had amounted to US$ 12.54 million.
A study of the monthly export figures reveals that March, April and May were the worst months for the garment industry with deliveries down 66, 49 and 51 percent respectively.
“Exports in May were a meager US$ 1.1 million. This was a drastic drop from May 2007 when US$ 2.25 million worth of garments were sold abroad,” a GAN official informed the Post.
Exports went into a downward spiral after the tarai banda a few months ago, which crippled trade through tarai-based customs for 16 days, said entrepreneurs. The banda prevented manufacturers from delivering their orders on time resulting in their losing out on new orders to other countries. GAN's data further shows that the export of the country's once largest exportable commodity is just one-eighth of what it was during the same period in 2003.
Nepal's readymade garment exports to the world's largest market had been floundering since 2002 when the US provided duty-free market access to Caribbean and Sub-Saharan countries, Nepal's main competitors in the US.
While the phase-out of quotas in international apparel trading in 2005 came as another blow to Nepal's exporters, political instability, labor troubles and falling competitiveness only added to their woes.
GAN's year-wise export data reveals that Nepal's exports to the US plummeted 30 percent in 2004, 41 percent in 2005, 6 percent in 2006 and 48 percent in 2007 compared to the preceding year.
As a result, the number of factories in operation has dropped to about a dozen from over 500 units operating a decade ago. This has left some 80,000 people, half of them women, out of a job.
Entrepreneurs said that the industry could still bounce back if trade unions reached a minimum understanding with producers and pledged not to strike for the next two years.
They underscored the need to establish a garment processing zone at the earliest to reduce transit transportation costs and other components of the cost of production.
“The government should also make stronger efforts to obtain duty-free market access to the US,” said entrepreneurs. According to them, the facility would free Nepali garment exports of the 18 percent customs duty which is now being imposed on them, thereby raising their competitiveness in the world's largest apparel market.
According to Ganesh Chandra Baniya, CEO of the company, ‘it was initially from Germany but Agni has brought it from Malaysian government.’
The surcharge on Kathmandu-Simara, the shortest distance among the domestic air routes, will increase by Rs 90 and for Dhandadhi by Rs 350, said Rupesh Joshi, marketing director of Buddha Air.
The Airlines Association of Nepal (AAN) has tabled the proposal with the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) for it endorsement. Earlier, the government and airlines had inked an agreement to revise the surcharge whenever air fuel prices change.
“This move is just to pass on the rise in the price of fuel to passengers,” said Joshi.
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) raised price of aviation fuel by 12 percent to Rs 100 per liter, up from Rs 90 on Thursday.
With the rocketing oil prices, many airlines around the globe have gone out of business, while several others have started cutting services and raising prices to keep going.
By Bhushita Vasistha
“Actually, I haven't really traveled outside the Kathmandu Valley," Robin Nakarmi, answered hesitatingly when asked the purpose of visiting the National Tourism Festival 2008 at World Trade Centre on Friday. "Tourism is my first love. I don't miss a single program related to it."
Robin, 20, has been to Pokhara and Chitwan but he doesn't like calling the trips "traveling".
"Oh, of course, I've been to some places of Nepal. But then, that's not traveling. I mean, I haven't traveled anywhere outside Nepal."
Robin is just a case in a point. Still, a larger chunk of urbanites don't really find local tourism spots appealing enough to visit. Even though thin streams of local tourists circulate throughout the country, the purpose is usually more spiritual or religious than tourism.
"We have huge potential local tourists in urban Nepal. However, we've not been able to encourage them well enough to get into it. Therefore, the main purpose of this expo is to introduce Kathmanduites to the local tourist destinations," Prachanda Man Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), said, explaining the objective of the expo.
The fair will focus largely on introducing Nepal's local tourist destinations to the urbanites while developing the relationship among the diverse stakeholders to bring local tourism to new height. The main target of the fair is urban population or the neo-rich group that is swelling considerably in Kathmandu.
Prior to these kinds of national festivals, NTB had been conducting several local festivals in different parts of the country.
"That was our first step to strengthen the roots of tourism via local means. Now, we've gathered enough experience and resources to conduct such festivals at national level. That is our second step," Shrestha explained further.
Through this expo, NTB not just plans to support local communities but also to bring them together under the same umbrella to work for better causes.
NTB had organized similar expo a year ago. "However," Shrestha recalled, "the response wasn't all that good. Therefore, this year, we've made a point not to repeat our past errors and localize the event as far as possible."
The expo that will run through a couple of days has over fifty stalls from around Nepal.
Shobha Utipal, one of the exhibitors from Lumbini, said, pointing to her dhakis, "We used to make these dhakis only for marriage and actually we were not really praised for making them, while earning money was a far cry. But I'm elated to take part in the exhibition because here people aren't just interested in them but are also willing to buy them."
"The expo has made us feel worthy. I feel we can be recognized through our skills, no matter how rustic they are," Birma Tharu added while agreeing with Shobha.
The expo, while promoting the already famous tourist destinations like Pokhara, Chitwan, Ilam, among others, is also introducing new local tourist spots. Sunsari and Morang, for example, have long been ignored in terms of tourism.
"This time, we're introducing Sunsari and Morang as Virgin East just as we're promoting Jhapa and neighboring districts as Wild West," informed Sharad Pradhan, media consultant of NTB.
"We need to have this kind of festivals as frequently as possible," Kabita KC, 29, said while admiring a harpe , a wooden container at the Solukhumbu stall. "If it weren't for this exhibition, I wouldn't have known that Nepal was as amazing as this. I wonder why they took this long to organize it," she added.
"The truth is we didn't have enough resources then," Subash Niraula, senior director of NTB and the coordinator of the expo, explained. "However, we should be happy that we managed it this year, even though we weren't really equipped. I guess, it's always better to be late than never."
Even though NTB is trying to promote domestic tourism, the fact that Nepalis are not allowed to travel in the green-plated tourist vehicles stands in stark contrast to the project.
"That's a different mechanism," CEO Shrestha said. "There are two different laws, transport law and tourism law. We're also using this expo as a forum to identify the issues of local tourism and sort them out as soon as possible."
To encourage local tourism among businessmen and their employees, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) proposed to business houses to allow certain prerogatives to its staffs to travel around the country.
“The chief highlight of the fair will be the live Dakiya weaving of Rupandehi and pottery making of Thimi,” informed Shrestha. Altogether, eight District Development Committees (DDC), six tourism institutions, three INGOs, seven tourism development committees, six chapters of Chamber of Commerce and Industries, six tourism associations, five tourism publications, three handicraft centers, three development committees along with the National Museum will be among the participants.
“This time, we're focusing more on introducing the unexplored local tourist destination. For example, we've advertised the eastern parts that include Morang, Jhapa, Terhathum, among others, as virgin East just as we're advertising the western parts as Wild West,” Shrestha informed.
The fair will also feature bungee jumping and canoeing as special features.
“The total budget allocated for this project is Rs 2.5 million. The sum is certainly not fat enough to meet the expenditures of the fair. However, we'll coordinate with our sponsors,” Shrestha informed answering one of the questions from the floor.
The fair will run through a couple of days.
V FOR VICTORY: The triumphant team of women climbers who made it to the top of Mt Everest recently stand with smile and pride as they were given a warm reception at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Sunday.
Photo: Sabin Tuladhar/TRN
The Rishing Nepal
To mark the first International Sagar matha (Mt Everest) Day a Photo and Art exhibition was held at Nepal Tourism Board from May 29 to June 1. The photos displayed are those of Korean photographer and poet Kim Hyoung Hyo and the paintings have been made by B K Nar Bahadur. It was amidst a function that poet Manjul and artist Madan Chitrakar had inagurated the exhibition.
A autorickshaw rally kicked off in Kathmandu Durbar Square on Sunday, with the objective of publicizing tourism destinations of Nepal and raising fund for water projects in Nepal, India and Africa.
