Reality of Tourism in Nepal

Tourism is not contributing to the Nepalese economy significantly. Its contribution in GDP is roughly 2 to 3%. Some people argue that the “Tourism Satellite Accounting” would produce exact contribution. That’s right, but there are some problems. First, it’s very difficult and costly to conduct the TSA. Second, the figure really doesn’t contribute really to the economy. In other words, suppose the contribution has been doubled, it doesn’t uplift the living standard of the people more than now, does it? The answer is negative. So, it’s only the play of words and figures. The benefit of the conducting the TSA is to know more accurately the contribution of tourism so that the policy makers can use this information for their decision making. In the absence of the right information the trial and error methods applied by policy makers would cost precious time and scarce resources. However, this has been little in practice in our context.

Tourism in Nepal is neither a mass nor niche tourism. Even if we claim our tourism is mass tourism, it’s not like that. The fact is that our tourism policy is open to tourists, but this has not been able to create a mass market as in the countries like France, Spain, Japan and US. In fact, it’s not possible to have mass tourism in our country with host of reasons. First, we don’t have the supportive infrastructures and superstructures. Second, the geographical setting is also responsible for this. Third, the economy itself is not so helping. Our economy is so small that virtually it has no effect even in our trading partners. Fourth, the private entrepreneurs are not capable enough to handle the tourism business. Fifth, no good air connections with various generating markets. Last but not the least, airfare is costly.

The various names of tourism are just the names of the games given by the players. Neither the government nor the entreprenuer wants tourists without money. Tourism be flourished in our country, there should be a strong mechanism of supervision and monitoring. Unless and until this is in place we can't get benefits out of tourism. There are always complaints by stakeholders; in fact they are not really the stakeholders.

Dhorpatan: Tourism Potentiality

"Deurali" is a gateway into Dhorpatan valley from Baglung – Burtibang - Bobang trek route. It elevates approximately from 3000 to 7000 m. above sea level in north-west of Baglung district. The peaceful valley is covered normally by snow in the winter season from January to February. It would be suitable for skiing. Habitants shift to their lower settlements before winter starts with their domestic animals, and vice versa. The valley turns into a beautiful landscapes with colorful green carpets everywhere and possesses pleasant weather in other seasons except rainy seasons. Beautiful sceneries and picturesque landscapes are seen from any of the surrounding peaks. Putha, Churen and Gurja Himal extend over the northern boundary.

One of the main attractions of Dhorpatan is the Hunting Reserve which stretches into Rukum, Myagdi and Baglung districts. The Reserve was established in 1983 (2039 B.S.) and was gazetted in 1987 (2044 B.S.) whose main objectives are to allow sports hunting and preserve various high altitude ecosystem in that region. The reserve has been separated in seven different blocks for proper hunting management. It covers an area of 1325 sq. km and is famous among foreigners for hunting blue sheep, a highly coveted trophy and other game animals. Many foreigners come for trophy hunting each year. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation issues the hunting license.

In fact, the valley is a marshland meadow. Thousands of domestic animals such as sheep, donkeys, buffalos, cows, goats, horses are seen grazing in the open fields. In the jungle, leopard, goral, serow, himalayan tahr, hirnalayan black bear, barking deer, wild boar, rhesus macaque, langur and mouse hare are found. Pheasants and partridge are common. Similarly, endangered species like musk deer, wolf, red panda, cheer pheasant and danphe are found here.

A festival is observed in Janai Purnima each year in Uttarganga in which a lot of pilgrims come from surrounding villages and districts to worship the Baraha, a hindu god. It is an important religious site, and has a potentiality of domestic religious tourism.

A river, Uttarganga originates and flows towards the north through the valley and meets another river from the east and jointly moves smoothly towards the west of the valley. This river would produce electricity of around 300 MW, in that case the valley would be transformed into a huge scenic lake. That would be a great manmade tourism attraction. But, it's a distant dream.

Magar, Kami, Nauthar live here creating a mixed pattern of cultures. They do farming and animal husbandry. There is abundance of herbs. The systematic farming of herbs also could be a lucrative source of income. The Tibetan refugee camp near the reserve is another attraction. Fluttering prayer flags above their settlement are unique identity of them. Bonpo monastery in Chhentung at the rear end of the valley is also a place to visit.

Simple lodging and fooding facilities are available in Dhorpatan valley. Camping is another option. Home-stay accommodations could be started with proper training to the villagers. The congregated villages are suitable for such facilities.

Limited telephone lines are available, and some of them are not working properly. They are just operators, and can't fix even simple problems. The only source of electricity is the solar-power. Some hotels and the office of the hunting reserve have installed solar-power for lighting.

A rough road has been constructed upto Burtibang, Budathok and then it takes one day’s trek to Dhorpatan. This road is supposed to be the mid-hill-highway which passes through Dhorpatan. An airport was operational in 1962 to 1972 but now no more in operation. There are other trekking routes as well from Mustang and Palpa towards Dhorpatan.