The Visit Lumbini Year 2012 launched by Nepal could be hurt to repetitive strikes which project a negative image of the Himalayan Republic.
KATHMANDU- The former Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal, which turned into a Federal Democratic Republic since 2008, is well-known for its temples, lively culture, its overwhelmingly friendly people… but also for its infamous strikes. The tourist who never experienced a strike in Nepal does not know the meaning of that word. Strikes generally bring the country to a complete halt as strikers threaten to destroy any business which dares to remain opened. From shops to domestic airlines, from banks to restaurants, everyone goes on strike. In May, a general strike virtually isolated the country three days during!
The problem is that strikes are very frequent in Nepal. According to tourism experts of Nepal, after a few years of peace, a recent wave of repeated strikes is hurting again the travel industry as it does fully disorganize the country. It also gives reinforce the idea of political instability in the country, a notion that especially scares Asian travellers.
Since April, strikes already hindered the government’s plan to promote internationally its much awaited “Visit Lumbini Year 2012”. Lumbini is a worldwide known pilgrimage site and is celebrated as Buddha’s birthplace. Nepal President officially inaugurated “Visit Lumbini Year 2012” on January 14 but there has been little international exposure so far. Domestically, the Ministry of Culture and the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) have planned to publish postage stamps, organise cultural and peace-related programs. Lumbini is due to be turned into a Peace City. The event is jointly organized by MoFACPAC (Ministry of Federal Affairs, Constituent Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture), the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) and the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. In 2011, some 426,000 visitors came to Lumbini, including 128,259 overseas travellers and 63,079 tourists from neighbouring India. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Lumbini attracts an increasing number of overseas travellers. Foreign visitors –excluding India- more than tripled since 2005 when Lumbini recorded a little bit less than 40,000 arrivals from overseas. In 2011, China was the largest incoming market to Lumbini with 80,700 travellers, followed by Sri Lanka with 52,691 pilgrims and Thailand with 26,382 pilgrims.
Nepal recorded some 750,0000 foreign tourists last year compared to previous estimations of one million foreign travellers. Year 2012 started on the right path with average growth of tourists arrivals up by over 22 % from January to April. However, experts believe that May and June will see decreases compared to last year following strikes and political uncertainties.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
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