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MAY 29 -
The declaration of Nepal Tourism Year 2011 (NTY), surrounded by broader perspectives of development, gives a stronger connotation for people’s participation in tourism development than the sense of appeal that was carried forward by Visit Nepal Year 1998 (VNY). One could examine VNY comparatively as being centric and laden in approach as opposed to the participatory, inclusive and broad based approach of NTY. Further, the slogan “Together for Tourism”, supported by the commitment of the major political parties for creating a “Strike Free Nepal”, could assist in capitalising the prospect of opening up new avenues of tourism development.
Assessing the underlying ethos of such tourism campaigns, we can observe a shift on the mode of the development philosophy from the centric and laden to the broad based and participatory. However, there is always a challenge for realising the supposed ideals into material actions. Therefore, one could be doubtful about achieving the target of NTY with the existing scattered working modality and environment. Therefore, the basic challenge for NTY is acting in a professional spirit so as to convert its implied literal ideals into material action. We should explore some new avenues of work for getting the commitment accomplished in the world of work.
Potentialities
Nepal is richly endowed with bio-diversity, ethnic, social and cultural heterogeneity, and geographical and natural variations which could be converted into attractive tourism products. In this context, different festivals and campaigns promoted by the Nepal Tourism Board and other stakeholders could be the stock of raw materials for composing into appropriate menus of tourism products to be explored worldwide through appropriate, objective and research based marketing and publicity. In such activities, people’s participation at various stages of product identification, development, promotion and selling will enlarge the product’s base. Such a participatory approach of development assists in alleviating poverty by judicious distribution of income and opportunities in society.
Further, it could open new modalities in development avenue by inviting business people into the action of broad based development and thereby fulfilling their corporate social responsibility by doing the business itself. Tax exemption, soft loans and other support should be given from the government side to investors investing in such new areas with new modalities. Further, development initiatives should use people in the development process so that there will be the relation of profit sharing with them. There is no debate about it in terms of tourism development as well. The cooperative structure of tourism development strategy could bind more people for serving each other’s interest and thereby produce more jobs and production opportunities.
In the existing scenario of tourism development, development initiatives should consider both the value and volume targets of the industry. To reach both the ends together, integrated schemes of policies and programmes are to be launched at various levels of plans, programmes and governance. This broad based and inclusive approach of tourism development will assist in forming regional balance through poverty alleviation and tourism destination management. It will avoid concentration of tourism sites by expanding them.
Homestay
In the context of NTY and its target of one million tourists, we should launch at least some broad based products. Among them, Homestay Tourism Practice, among the rural and cultural tourism products, is one of the most significant products for increasing sustained, maintained and broad based tourism activity. It incorporates people in development initiatives through their self-motivated approach that will assist in developing an entrepreneurial culture among them. Homestay is a form of tourism that allows the visitor to rent a room from a local family to learn the local lifestyle. Homestay is concerned with lifestyle and experiential tourism.
Interacting and sharing with selected families of diverse communities will be a novel tourism product in Nepal that will further assist in maintaining our cultural novelties in a professional manner. It widens community involvement in tourism activities and thereby addresses the problem of employment and distribution of opportunities in a judicious manner. It is judicious in the sense that it provides equal opportunities to all the people. Development of rural entrepreneurs will be a gradual step towards capitalism.
For developing this new avenue of tourism practice, legal, infrastructural as well as manpower necessities have to be managed. Selecting a community by maintaining basic legal and service standards and managing basic cleanliness and security are among the basic requisites for initiating homestay programmes. Accessibility to tourism sites, appropriateness of the product and marketing packages for tourists and networking among other homestay destinations and tourism industry partners are among the basic requirements for expanding the business.
Development of new activities could give a real touch of the sense of coming to Nepal. This zone of experience sharing could range from cultural sharing to exchange. Enjoying laidback lifestyles in different corners of the country, sharing fishing experiences on different rivers and taking part in cultural sharing in Gurung, Newar, Rai, Limbu, Tharu, Yadav and other communities could be very saleable products for the homestay programme. Preparing local foods, participating in local cultural activities and playing local traditional musical instruments could be some additional elements for prolonging the stay. In such programmes, tourists will enjoy the charm of rustic novelty and the community will preserve its novelty with the assistance of the business.
Agro visits could refresh tourists taking a break from the hectic schedule of the materialised modern world. Villagers and farmers could offer tourists a chance to share the exciting first hand experience of farming, plantation, farm visits, jungle visits and sight seeing. Exploring mountain and hill trails, trekking, boating, fishing and stream bathing could be other products. Enjoying local foods with the host family with real Nepali flavour and taste could be additional elements for creating an exciting experience. Activities of cottage industries and different cultural dances could be composed into novel tourism products. Mock weddings, Dhan Nach and many other cultural performances could assist in replicating the cultural mosaic. Nepal, as home to a rich mosaic of cultural and ethnic groups, could use different cultural and natural products as assets to be cashed upon. Traditional homes, local festivals and cultural performances could be enjoyed in different villages as delicious products of the homestay menu.
Broad based development having the active involvement of the people in development practices with the relation of profit sharing could make development activities more sustained and people oriented. The cooperative structural mechanism for investment and exploration of new tourism products will be a step towards developing entrepreneurship as well as a step to border formation of capitalism among the people, besides the existing traditional investments. Exploring a variety of saleable cultural and natural products could be important ingredients for product composition. So we should launch some novel and broad based products like homestay for overall tourism development.
(The author is an executive secretary at the Nepal Tourism Board)
meskghimire@gmail.com
Posted on: 2010-05-30 08:42
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