Joy Roy Choudhury – Kolkata
Ravaged by a series of earthquakes in April last year, Nepal’s tourism industry is banking on Indian tourists to sustain the growth in international tourist arrivals. Last year’s earthquake had dampened sentiments on the tourism front and conveyed a wrong message to the world that Nepal is not safe for tourists. “Starting from 2016, however, things are again limping back to normalcy. There has been a 25 per cent rise in the flow of tourists after it ebbed to an all time low in 2015. Foreign tourists from the US and European countries are again coming back to Nepal. Chinese tourists are coming in big numbers,” said Sudarshan Prasad Dhakal, director – general, Department of Tourism, Govt of Nepal. Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) is making efforts to convey and convince the global tourism fraternity, especially Indians that things are back to normal in the Himalayan nation.
“We are convincing the world that things are back to normal in the country and it is a safe destination for holiday-makers. We are hosting road shows in all the major cities of India and approaching tour operators and tourism agencies in these places to spread the message. The aim is to regain tourists from India, which touched an all-time low last year. Our efforts this year will be to focus on tapping the market in the major metros in India, and exploring new avenues. Our new product for the India market would be the adventure segment and we are positive it will strike a chord with young tourists at this point of time,” commented Ujjwala Dali, officiating director – tourism promotion and marketing, NTB.
According to estimates provided by NTB, around 1.2 lakh Indian tourists on an average used to visit Nepal every year till 2014. In 2015, less than 80,000 Indian tourists visited Nepal.
Dali informed that Nepal Airlines, the national carrier of Nepal, has resumed direct air connectivity between Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru after a gap of few years. Presently, there are daily direct flights from Delhi to Kathmandu, and flights from Mumbai and Bengaluru are available thrice in a week. Efforts are on to start direct flights between Kolkata and Kathmandu to attract tourists from the states of Eastern India.