Kathmandu, February 2

Despite the off season for tourism, Nepal's international tourist arrivals soared by 224.4 per cent yearon-year to 55,074 in January, according to the data unveiled by the Nepal Tourism Board.

The country had welcomed only 16,436 tourists in the same month last year. However, the arrivals are yet to recover to the pre-pandemic level. The country had welcomed 66,714 tourists in January of 2019.

India was the top source country for tourists, with 16,436 Indian nationals visiting Nepal. The United States was the second, with 6,561 Americans visiting Nepal whereas United Kingdom secured the third place with 3,458 British tourists.

Similarly, Australia was the fourth with 3,441, while Bangladesh came in the fourth position, with 2,468 Bangladeshis making Nepal their travel destination.

Prior to the pandemic, China was one of the major source of tourism for Nepal. However due to strict policies put in place by the northern neighbour in a bid to investment, closely work with outside investors, try and develop needed infrastructure and increase tourism. Although Nepal has a lot of potential in terms of attracting tourists, the hotel industry lags far behind and needs lots of work and improvements.

How is digitisation, eco-friendly, and sustainable practices being integrated into the industry and how can hospitality businesses in Nepal effectively attract and retain customers? As far as digitisation and sustainability are concerned, it has become a norm at present in the hospitality industry. People will only go to hotels that are sustainable and eco-friendly and emit the least carbon footprints.

Tourism will increase once the number of airlines in Nepal increases.

Unfortunately, the world economy is in turmoil as a result of ongoing global conflicts. Unless the geo-political situation improves alongside the global economy, the number of tourists coming to Nepal will not increase further for now. control the possible spread of the COVID-19, few Chinese visited Nepal recent years.

As per NTB's January data, only 1,436 Chinese visited Nepal, a slump of 87.4 per cent compared to the corresponding period of 2019, when 11,430 Chinese had come to Nepal.

China has announced it is resuming overseas group tours for its citizens from February 6. Issuing a circular on January 20, Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism unveiled a list of 20 countries, which unfortunately did not include Nepal. This could dent the tourism recovery for the country.

Meanwhile, of the total international visitors who entered Nepal last month, 37.5 per cent were from the SAARC countries, as per the NTB.

Likewise, 15.8 per cent of the total visitors were from European countries in January while 15.6 per cent were from Asia.

Tourist arrivals from America, Oceania, Middle East and others constituted 13.7 per cent, 6.6 per cent, 0.7 per cent and 10.2 per cent, respectively, of the total figures.

How can hospitality businesses collaborate and promote each other to increase the overall competitiveness of the industry? Nepali businesses need to start creating quality products. Unfortunately, the products which are being created here are not of international quality. Despite many areas to visit in the country, they lack international quality standard products there. To create a competitive and flourishing hospitality industry in Nepal and attract tourists, businesses should work with professionals, brands, architects, and designers to create qualitative projects with international standards.

Otherwise, businesses will go on creating small projects everywhere, which will not attract the anticipated number of tourists in the country, making a business hard to sustain.

Although far behind, the hospitality industry is growing in Nepal and a lot of new projects are being introduced. With international brands entering Nepal, I believe the industry will witness considerable growth and exposure in the coming days.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 3, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.