Tourism: Hard hit by negative publicity

Rupak D Sharma

Last week at a conference in Manila, Takeshi Kawasaki, a lecturer at The Asahi Shimbun’s Institute of Journalism asked me how martial law was faring for Nepal. For a while I was dumbfounded and quickly asked him whether he was joking.

Mr Kawasaki was a modest person and like most of the Japanese he was also down-to-earth. I even found him to be a friend of Nepal when he told me that many Japanese, who were gradually reviving their lost faith in religion – ie Buddhism/Taoism – wanted to visit Nepal, especially the birth place of Lord Buddha, Lumbini.

That gave me an impression that he was pretty serious about the remark on “martial law” he made on Nepal.

To convince him I had to explain that Nepal was still mired in dirty political wrangling but the 10-year long war had ended and things were not as bad as before. I also clarified that Nepal was NOT under the martial law.

He was pleased with my answer but it left me wondering whether people like him would even consider visiting Nepal while they held such views regarding the country?

For a Nepali traveling abroad, it has become difficult to convince the foreigners that things have improved since the Maoists dropped their weapons and joined the political mainstream. They frequently watch news footage or read about frequent protests in Nepal that usually turn violent. All those feeds give them the idea that Nepal is degenerating into a state where chaos and unruly demonstrations are rife. And all this is taking a toll on the country’s tourism industry, keeping people like Mr Kawasaki’s friends at a fix.

Last year, I asked a high-ranking official of UNGEI how Nepal was known in the US. I was expecting answers like Land of Mount Everest, Land of Buddha or even land of beautiful natural spots. But to my surprise she said “land of turbulence.” Maybe I was too naïve or rather ten years behind time to think Everest and Buddha were still identities of Nepal. I was speechless and couldn’t argue with her or tell her that she was wrong.

Every day protests that create a gridlock on the streets or the culture bandhs that bring everything to a standstill may have become a way of life for us Nepalis but they are certainly not natural for westerners or people in East or Southeast Asia.

Protests in themselves are not bad. They are a part of a vibrant democratic system. But there are ways to hold them. For instance, the anti-government protests were held in Thailand for three months since August last year. The demonstrators at that time had captured the prime minister’s office and were staying there round the clock. But they never resorted to vandalism, meaning the protests were relatively peaceful and did not affect day to day lives of people. Many people in other countries did not even know about the demonstrations. It went on like this for three months until November, when it spilled onto other parts of the city. Then footage of one of the protesters pointing a revolver flooded the international television channels and people planning to travel to Thailand started canceling their trips. I was in Thailand at that time and things were not as bad as many international media had portrayed them to be. I then started receiving calls from family back home and my friends started e-mailing me requesting me to stay put. Probably were thinking revolver-totting protesters were running scot free in Bangkok, which was not the situation. Then the protesters made a foolish move and seized the airport on November 27 last year, interrupting all domestic and international flights. Many foreign visitors were stranded in the city while Thais who were abroad couldn’t enter the country. Although the government gave compensations for the expenses incurred by stranded tourists, the damage was already done. And in the following months tourist arrivals fell by nearly 50 percent. Even today, along with global economic slowdown, that unruly act of capturing the Bangkok’s international airport is blamed as one of the reasons for the decline in the number of foreign visitors.

This gives an example of how fragile the tourism industry is. And at a time when the competition is rife and lots of destinations are offering similar packages, one foolish act made by a single group can make millions of travelers change their plans. And when these travelers opt to go to some other destination, it can have harsh impacts on tourism-dependent individuals on bottom rungs of the economic ladder.

Nepal’s tourism industry is not as big as Thailand’s. Thailand attracts around 14 million tourists every year and its tourism industry contributes to more than 30 percent of the country’s GDP. Whereas ours’ contributes to around three percent of the GDP. But despite being small we know it has been creating lots of self-employment opportunities along the trekking routes and other tourist hotspots. And a small decline in the number of tourists can affect the incomes of people who sell tea and operate small shops or restaurants or souvenir shops. In worst case, it can even render them jobless. These are the people who will find themselves bruised by clashes taking places on the streets of capital, and not those well-off tour operators or travel agents.

Nepal has announced 2011 as the Tourism Year and plans to attract one million tourists. But all footages of protests on the streets of Kathmandu relayed by international television are only giving a negative publicity about the country. On top of that the US government has recently issued travel warning to its citizens to not visit Nepal, due to protests and clashes taking place. It’s time we realize that democracy is about respecting other people’s rights and not violating their rights in the name of safeguarding one’s own.

Regarding Mr Kawasaki, I told him that Nepal is not as dangerous as he imagined it to be. I also asked him to recommend his friends to travel to Lumbini. But will they?Published in Republica on May 31, 2009

Revelling In the Boom

By Rupak D Sharma in Vientiane

Upon my arrival in Vientiane, the first thing I noticed about the city was its remarkably low population density.

It was Friday morning when I reached there but the streets gave an impression as if it was a weekend. When the weekend finally rolled in the next day, the thoroughfares looked completely deserted.

If this was the situation in the capital city, I wondered, how empty would other parts of Laos look.

With all these thoughts in my mind I was waiting for a friend in front of KP Hotel when I started seeing into foreign tourists. One, then another and another. In the span of around 20 minutes, when I stood there, I realised that on average every fourth person that I had come across was a foreigner.

I didn’t know what to make out of it at first but later this explained a lot about the correlation between Laos’ scanty population and booming tourism industry.

Laos: An Intro

Laos, a landlocked country hidden between China, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Viet Nam, is spread in an area of 236,800sq km and has a population of 6.52 million. In other words, only 25 people live in 1sq km of land compared with 253 persons per sq km in Viet Nam, 122 in Thailand and 78 in Cambodia.

This is one of the reasons why the country is a haven for tourists looking for destinations with little distractions. This is also the reason why it is favoured by those who have become tired of hopscotching crowded and bustling places of Southeast Asia.

With treasures such as the 700-year old scenic city of Luang Prabang in the central north, the Plain of Jars in the north, the 4,000 Islands in the south and plenty of archaeological wonders and breathtaking scenes, the country can be called a huge showcase of riveting sights and idyllic spots that can keep one engaged for days.

The place is not over priced either. Average accommodation costs in fine hotels are US$40 per night and Beerlao, one of the tastiest beers in the region, is priced at $1 in most restaurants.

But what adds more charm to all these is its relaxed and welcoming people, whose innate hospitality moved me more than once during my sojourn.

This incredible mixture of low population density, hidden treasures, inexpensiveness and people’s benevolent attitude are giving a shot of adrenaline to its tourism industry.

Tourism’s Benefits

For a less industrialised economy like Laos, where around 27 per cent of the population do not earn $1 a day, tourism offers a lifeline and provides the much needed foreign currency required to execute development works and reduce incidents of poverty.

Last year, a total of 1.6 million foreign visitors thronged Laos—up 23 per cent from 2006 and more than double of 2001—bringing in $233 million to the country.

The foreign receipts helped the country to narrow the current account deficit to 15 per cent of the GDP (of $4 billion) and maintain a sound foreign exchange reserve of $530 million.

Vayakhon Badhisane, president of Lao Association of Travel Agents, told AsiaNews that benefits of tourism have also started to trickle down to the poor, “which is now visible in less-developed areas of the country”.

Due to the influx of foreign travellers, residents in rural areas have started opening convenience stores, restaurants, small souvenir shops and other businesses, she said. “This, on one hand, is augmenting their incomes and improving living standards, while, on the other, enhancing their entrepreneurial skills and bringing them into the mainstream of development.”

A recent Asian Development Bank report said a significant investment is also being poured into accommodation and other facilities to cater to the needs of rising number of tourists, generating additional employment opportunities. Laos currently has 211 hotels and 1,120 guest houses and resorts. According to ADB, every additional hotel room creates two jobs directly and several indirectly.

Repercussions Of Boom

But the paradox is that tourism, which has become a chief agent in keeping the economy vibrant, is also ripping the country off of its precious, priceless and irreplaceable treasures.

Luang Prabang, the most famous destination in Laos, is an example where intrepid tourists are turning the city ugly and trampling on the cultural heritage.

Some years ago Unesco warned of Luang Prabang, a World Heritage Site, turning into “another tourist town where softdrink billboards dominate the landscape, where the sound of tour buses drowns out the soft temple prayers, and where the town’s residents are reduced to the roles of bit-players in a cultural theme park” if proper measures were not taken to preserve its cultural legacy and authenticity.

The overflow of tourists in Luang Prabang is also pushing the natives to move to other places by leasing their lands to guest house, restaurant and massage parlour owners.

These newcomers usually snub the idea of supporting the monasteries, which largely depend on the people’s offerings. Many fear if this trend continues, the number of people enrolling for monks may shrink drastically, delivering a severe blow to the age-old tradition, which is considered the pride of the city.

There are also fears that the growing number of incoming tourists may lure many looking for quick bucks into prostitution and degenerate the ecosystem resulting in depletion of many land and aquatic species that are found in abundance in Laos.

Glimmer Of Hope

As many reports have said “supply of distinctive, living ethnic cultures combined with an exemplary natural environment is diminishing throughout the world” due to booming tourism. And Laos seems to be falling victim to this trend.

But when supply declines, demand goes up. Since Laos’ natural and cultural heritage is not deteriorating at a fast pace, the country still has the opportunity to capitalise on the fundamental economic theory and make tourism a sustainable income generating source.

For that, it must do more to preserve its pristine spots and ethnic traditions.Published in Asia News