Guerrilla tourist trail launched in Nepal

The one-time leader of Nepal's Maoist insurgency on Tuesday launched a new tourist trekking trail, giving visitors the chance to retrace the guerrillas' footsteps.

The Guerrilla Trek, a three-week hike which stretches across central and western Nepal, is designed to draw in more foreigners as the Himalayan nation seeks to rebuild an economy devastated by the 1996-2006 "People's War".

An estimated 16,000 people died in the decade-long conflict fought by Prachanda and his fellow Maoists against the once-absolute monarchy. The rebels later turned to politics and took power in elections two years later.

The trek passes through Nepal's lush valleys that stand in the shadow of mountains including Dhaulagiri and through dramatic waterfalls, lakes and the country's only hunting reserve, according to the organizers.

The Maoists were the largest party in the parliament until its dissolution in May over the failure to deliver a post-war constitution.

TIMS fee to be reduced for SAARC Country Nationals

With the objective of attracting more South Asian tourists, particularly Indians, Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) have decided to lower the Trekkers´ Information Management System (TIMS) fee for SAARC countries by 70 percent.
 
A recent meeting of TAAN and NTB reduced the fee to US$ 3 per person for tourists traveling in groups through trekking agency and $6 per person for FITs (Free Independents Travelers). 

The existing TIMS fee which is a mandatory for trekking to Everest, Langtang and Annapurna region is $10 and $20 per person for group and solo trekkers, respectively. However, no changes have been made in TIMS fee for tourists other than from the South Asian region. 

Although almost 20 percent of the total tourists include trekking in their itineraries, the participation of tourists from South Asian region in trekking is negligible. 

Tourism entrepreneurs are hopeful that the special fee for SAARC countries will attract more tourists at a time when Nepal is being considered as an expensive destination compared to other tourist destinations in South East Asia. 

End of solo trekking in Nepal

From September 1, solo tourists traveling to any trekking destination in Nepal will have to take at least one certified porter or guide with them. The measure, first announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs last month, is intended to ensure the safety of tourists as well as to promote jobs for local guides. This measure also seeks to minimize illegal trekking agencies operated by foreigners.

The announcement follows the disappearance of a number of solo tourists and  the murder of a Belgian trekker hiking in Nepal's Langtang National Park earlier this year. Groups of trekkers are already required to use government-registered trekking agencies.

From September 1, solo trekkers will need to allow for an additional fee to hire a certified porter or guide. Certified porters or guides have completed a six-month training course which includes orientation training as well as emergency procedures to support the travelers. Porters or guides speak several languages including English, Spanish, German, and French, among others.

Nepal and its iconic Himalaya mountains have attracted huge numbers of tourists since the country first opened its borders in the 1950s. Hikers come to experience the relatively easy trails to the famous Everest or Annapurna peaks, among others. The latest report published by the Immigration Office of Nepal shows a total of 719,597 international tourist arrivals to the country in 2011, mainly from neighbors India, China and Sri Lanka, followed by British and Americans. Around 10% of the total number of international tourists came to the country to do trekking.

Tiger population doubles in Nepal

Camera traps in Nepal's Bardia National Park identified 37 tigers living in and near the park in 2011, a marked increase from two years before when only 18 were recorded there, according to the conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The credit to the increase goes to the commitment of the Nepalese government to protect the endangered big cats and crack down on illegal poaching, as well as better training and resources given to park rangers, cooperation by local communities and improvements in grassland habitat.

 The growth of the Royal Bengal Tiger in this region shows that the animals can rebound quickly if given the opportunity. "This is a result of the government's commitment to doubling Nepal's tiger numbers [by 2022] and is proof positive that this goal is achievable if grassroots efforts by local communities and rangers on the frontlines of tiger conservation are complemented by high-level political support," said a research worker.

Rangers have cracked down on poaching, arresting more 300 poachers and traders in the country in 2011 alone. The local communities and the Nepalese government have doubled the number of guard posts in the park since 2008.

However, illegal hunting of the endangered cats throughout their range remains an enormous threat to their survival and is fueled by growing demand for their parts, which are traditionally thought to have medicinal value (despite strong evidence to the contrary). Camera traps used in the study, published in an announcement by the government of Nepal, also found tigers moving through the Khata wildlife corridor to reach India's Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary. These wildlife corridors are vital for allowing the animals to move throughout their range, and in the future, the WWF plans to better protect and improve the habitats of these pathways in Nepal and elsewhere.

Researchers have improved grassland habitats by removing trees and conducting controlled burns over the past few years, which has allowed ungulates and other deer species — a primary food source for tigers — to thrive. Tigers can have many offspring if they are healthy; photographs by tourists suggest that one Nepalese female has given birth to eight cubs in the past few years.

Snow leopard in the Himalayas threatened by climate change

Nepal's elusive snow leopards, thought to number just 500 in the wild, are under threat from warmer and wetter weather in the Himalayas that is reducing their habitat. Changing weather patterns are pushing forests further into the leopards' territory and they could lose 40 percent of their hunting grounds by the end of the century, scientists from environmental group WWF have concluded.

"Loss of alpine habitat not only means less room for snow leopards, but also has the potential to bring them closer to human activities like livestock grazing," said WWF snow leopard expert. "As grazing intensifies and the leopards' natural prey decline, they could begin preying more heavily on livestock, resulting in increased retaliatory killings."

Experts believe just 500 adults survive in Nepal's Himalayas, and few can claim ever to have seen the secretive, solitary animal sometimes referred to as a "mountain ghost".

The animal lives in high alpine areas, above the treeline but generally below 5,000 metres (16,500 feet), where they are able to stealthily track their prey, usually wild goat-like ruminants, deer, boars and some smaller mammals.

The scientists used computer climate models and on-the-ground tracking of snow leopards' movements in the Nepalese Himalayas and its other known habitats.

They envisaged a worst-case scenario of the big cat's 20,000 square kilometre (7,700 sq mile) territory being reduced to 11,700 sq km by the end of the century

Three new paragliding companies to come into operation in Pokhara

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has lifted the restriction on issuance of new operating license for paragliding companies in Nepal. The new companies queuing up to obtain license include Flying Himalayan paragliding, Mountain View Paragliding and Fly Nirvana. All the three companies are based in Pokhara. Earlier, citing increasing air traffic congestion in Pokhara airport the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) had stopped issuance of permits for new companies. 

World’s highest marathon on May 29.

The 10th edition of Coca -Cola Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon is scheduled to be held on May 29th, 2012. 

Organising a press conference in Kathmandu on Thursday, organisers Himalaya Expeditions Inc. and Adventure Sports Nepal said that race starts from expeditionary Everest Base Camp (5364 meter), near the Khumbu Glacier and ends at Namche Bazaar (3446 meter), the capital town of Sherpas covering a distance of 42.195 km.

The main purpose of this dubbed “World Highest Marathon” is to develop a new and unique tourism product to help uplift tourism in Nepal and contribute to opening up new international tourism markets and increase the number of visitors. 

Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon was first conducted on 29th May, 2003 to commemorate and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Mt. Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary during in 1953.

Kathmandu – Pokhara tourist bus to operate twice daily service

Tourism entrepreneurs have started operating tourist buses services twice a day one Pokhara-Kathmandu-Pokhara route from Monday. So far, they were operating the services only once in the morning.

Under the new arrangement, tourists would have two options. They can take the bus at 7:30 if it suits them. But if they want to start journey a bit late, they can catch the bus at 10:30 from Rastra Bank Chowk in Pokhara and Sorhakhutte in Kathmandu. The fare is same. 

Tourism entrepreneurs said the frequency was increased because of increasing demand from domestic and foreign tourists. Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) Pokhara Chapter said the increased number of bus services was going to facilitate tourists as they will not have to hurry early in the morning to catch the bus. 

Tourism entrepreneurs in the lake city are hopeful that the new schedule will help attract more tourists from bordering Syangja, Baglung and Mustang districts. 

Hotels inside the Chitwan National Park to relocate

Six hotels inside Chitwan National Park (CNP) have yet to start preparation to relocate their resorts although their renewed deadline to vacate the land leased out to them by the government will expire by mid-July, 2012. 

Though their lease contrat expired in 2009, the government had pledged them additional time to relocate their hotels considering the Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011. The decision was taken after Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament instructed the government for the extension. 

The hoteliers at that time had strongly criticized the government´s intention not to renew the contract. But when the government stood firm on its stance and declined their requests for extension on the instruction of Natural Resource Management Committee (NRMC) of the parliament, they later sought additional time for the relocation. 

Contrary to the NRMC´s instruction and their own commitments expressed then, hoteliers are once again hoping the government would again consider their cases and will pledge them the new extension. 

The hotels are blamed for the degradation of natural habitat of wild animals as well as the environment inside the park, which the hoteliers completely disagree. "Hoteliers are instead helping the conservation efforts and there has been no degradation of the environment since the day of the operation of the hotels” according to the hotel owners inside the Chitwan park.

The umbrella organization of hotels, Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) has sent a request to Prime Minister Office to review the previous decision and to allow the operation of the hotels inside CNP.

Tourism revenue falls in Nepal

Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) may have brought a record number of tourists in 2011, but their average per day spending has dropped to a 10-year low.

Arrivals reached an all-time high of 735,965 in 2011, up 22.1 per cent compared to 2010. But average spending by tourists has dropped to US$ 39.90 last year against US$43.20 of 2010, according to a preliminary study of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA). The average spending in 2011 has been calculated at the exchange rate of 78 rupees per US$ 1.

Government officials said that the reason behind the fall in tourist spending despite a growth in numbers was yet to be ascertained. However, they said that three major factors could be possible reasons—an increase in same-day visitors particularly pilgrims from the Southeast Asian market, a drop in quality tourists and their length of stay.

Although pilgrims are considered to be big spenders in other countries, lack of tour packages by Nepali agencies has forced them to buy travel packages offered by Indian agencies. Travel trade entrepreneurs said that over 90 per cent of pilgrim packages were being managed by Indian travel agencies.

Domestic airline ticket booking at 90 percent

As the tourist season peaks, airlines say 90 percent of air tickets on Pokhara-Kathmandu-Pokhara sector have been booked till May.

Station Manager of Buddha Air in Pokhara said 90 percent of available tickets have been booked for this season. “Of the total booking, 70 percent were by foreigners and rest by Indians and locals,” he said. Furthermore, the proportion of incoming and outgoing passengers from Pokhara airport was similar and occupancy in some of the flights had already hit 100 percent.

Airlines are also planning to add more flights to meet the demand. Buddha Air recently added one more flight to its five daily starting March. Likewise, booking of Yeti Airlines tickets has also reached 90 percent according to the station manager of Yeti Airlines. The airline has increased its regular flight to 10 per day from 8 flights. Similarly, the other airline operator, Agni Air is also adding one more flight from April as there was no off season for airlines operator this year with an average occupancy of almost 90 percent.

Tourism entrepreneurs are also happy with the growing number of tourist arrivals. They are optimistic about the further growth as the occupancy of passengers for upcoming months has significantly gone up.

Eco Tourism

Ecotourism or low impact travel has become buzzword in national and international tourism, conservation and development circles. The word has been glamourised and has become focus for marketing strategy for many tourism destinations. The roots of increasing interest in ecotourism lie in the emergence of alternative tourism in response to mass negative consequences of mass tourism, depleting natural resources in particular.

In the 1990s, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation predicted an annual growth rate of 10-15 percent in the demand for ecotourism and in another study it has shown that wildlife tourism represents 40 percent of the international travelers. Today, ecotourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of tourism.

Nepal’s ambitious National Ecotourism Strategy and Marketing Programme of 2004 emphasises cross-sectoral cooperation at National Planning level, more private participation, poverty alleviation through promotion of village tourism and a full-fledged marketing programme.

The Ecotourism Strategy and Marketing Programme clearly outlined seven strategic direction: Convert Nepal’s ecotourism strength into comparative advantage; develop partnerships and alliances at all level; routine co-operation between tourism and conservation agencies; inviting the private sector to participate in the marketing of ecotourism development projects; developing new ecotourism areas; review trekking and mountaineering regulations; and developing an ecotourism marketing programme.

Inauguration of Visit Lumbini Year 2012

The government is kick-starting the Visit Lumbini Year (VLY) 2012 campaign and Tourism Vision 2020 amidst a special ceremony at Central Canal in Lumbini on Saturday.

President Dr Ram Baran Yadav will inaugurate the event that will also include formal closure of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011 campaign. Gyanin Rai, chief of Lumbini Development Trust, Kathmandu Office, said the target of VLY 2012 was to introduce Lumbini as birthplace of Lord Buddha and to mobilize funds from international sector for overall development of Lumbini area. Around 628,000 people, including 128,000 third-country tourists, visited Lumbini in 2011. Government has allocated Rs 130 million for VLY campaign.

A press statement from Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said the Visit Lumbini Year campaign was a major linkage between NTY 2011 and Tourism Vision 2020, as it serves to sustain the achievement of NTY 2011 and improve livelihoods of the people through tourism as envisioned in Vision 2020.

“Successful completion of NTY 2011 has clearly given two messages to the world. The first one is that Nepal has come to peaceful and stable situation after a decade long political uncertainty; and another, tourism has been unanimously regarded as a vehicle of economic transformation,” the statement added.

Tourist arrivals to the country during NTY increased by 22.1 percent as compared to arrivals figures of 2010.

"Beneath Everest, Nepal Reborn" – A Documentary

Born and raised in Parbat of the Dhaulagiri Zone, Tulsi Bhandari, 35, is a graduate in Social Work from the Michigan Grand Valley College in the US.

A professional social worker, Bhandari is the maker of “Beneath Everest, Nepal Reborn,” a documentary which captures Nepal while in its turbulent transition from a monarchy-ruled Nepal to a new Federal Democratic Republic.

Filmed over four years, “Beneath Everest” documents some of the most critical defining moments in Nepal’s modern history and describes them. In his first documentary, Bhandari has managed to capture the lives of the everyday Nepalis, and questions some of the prominent political leaders.

The film, which had its New York premiere at the Asia Society headquarters in New York on December 1, 2009, has been screened at around 25 venues in the capital since mid 2010. Still on its road show, the film has traveled across the country and will reach Sauraha next week