Visit Nepal Year 2020: Some Imperatives

Abstract

Tourism is one of the fastest-growing socio-economic sectors of our times. It is also one of the linchpins of Nepalese economy. The purpose of this paper is to overview the tourism development trend in general, and Visit Nepal 2020 in particular, and discuss some ideas which are helpful in addressing current needs of tourism development in Nepal, and also serving as an asset base for future interventions. In this paper, we first analyse the tourism development trend, both global and national, to present the tourism scenario we have thus far created, and, setting aside the preparations done so far for undertaking soon-to-be-launched Visit Nepal year, discuss a few management thoughts which have strategic importance in making the tourism year more effective. This call-to-action paper offers a range of last-minute pointers for tourism policymakers and practitioners, in the context of effecting Visit Nepal 2020, that are more likely to impact and, to some extent, guide the future directions of the tourism industry in Nepal.

Economic Diplomacy for Development Partnership

“…The NTB not only promotes attractive destinations within Nepal but also carries out promotional activities abroad and provides published materials to overseas missions, but often without input and participation of MOFA or overseas missions. There is no coordination or synergy in the effort (Pandey & Dhakal, 2019). Furthermore, MOFA has not demonstrated leadership to drive economic diplomacy.…”

Tourism, Employment Generation and Foreign Exchange Earnings in Nepal

“…al., 2015). Tourism is an important source of foreign exchange earnings and employment, which enlarges the consumer markets, promotes export trade and overall economic growth of a country ( Badal, 2019;Basnet, 2016;Dhakal, 2016;Honey & Gilpin, 2009;Matthew et al, 2018;Pandey & Dhakal, 2019;Saleh et al, 2015;Shrestha & Shrestha, 2012;UNWTO, 2019). In 2017, travel and tourism had 3.8% contribution on total employment, which is expected to increase to 4.2 percent in 2028 (WTTC, 2017).…”

“…Studies have presented Nepal with the enchanting beauty and possibilities for tourism expansion (Basnet, 2016;Dhital, 2009; Ministry of Finance [MOF], 2019;Shrestha & Shrestha, 2012;Subedi, 2018). Nepalese tourism industry has experienced positive signals in infl ow of foreign tourists (Pandey & Dhakal, 2019). Th e scenario of 2019 highlighted 940,200 tourist arrivals, accounting for USD 629.7 million international tourism inbound receipts, and 2.9 percent share on total employment in Nepal (WTTC, 2019).…”